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" There are two things which a democratic people will always find very difficult - to begin a war and to end it. "

Alexis de Tocqueville

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" The whole life of an American is passed like a game of chance, a revolutionary crisis, or a battle. "

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" Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith. "

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" I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America. "

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" History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies. "

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" The debates of that great assembly are frequently vague and perplexed, seeming to be dragged rather than to march, to the intended goal. Something of this sort must, I think, always happen in public democratic assemblies. "

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" The power of the periodical press is second only to that of the people. "

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" There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle. "

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" Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom. "

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" In America the majority raises formidable barriers around the liberty of opinion; within these barriers an author may write what he pleases, but woe to him if he goes beyond them. "

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" In politics shared hatreds are almost always the basis of friendships. "

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" The French want no-one to be their superior. The English want inferiors. The Frenchman constantly raises his eyes above him with anxiety. The Englishman lowers his beneath him with satisfaction. "

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" The genius of democracies is seen not only in the great number of new words introduced but even more in the new ideas they express. "

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" Those that despise people will never get the best out of others and themselves. "

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" When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness. "

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" The main business of religions is to purify, control, and restrain that excessive and exclusive taste for well-being which men acquire in times of equality. "

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" Nothing seems at first sight less important than the outward form of human actions, yet there is nothing upon which men set more store: they grow used to everything except to living in a society which has not their own manners. "

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" The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint, but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colours breaking through. "

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" He was as great as a man can be without morality. "

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" The Americans combine the notions of religion and liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive of one without the other. "

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" What is most important for democracy is not that great fortunes should not exist, but that great fortunes should not remain in the same hands. In that way there are rich men, but they do not form a class. "

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" The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults. "

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" The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money. "

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" In other words, a democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it. "

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" There is hardly a pioneer's hut which does not contain a few odd volumes of Shakespeare. I remember reading the feudal drama of Henry V for the first time in a log cabin. "

Alexis de Tocqueville

" All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it. "

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" Consider any individual at any period of his life, and you will always find him preoccupied with fresh plans to increase his comfort. "

Alexis de Tocqueville

" Grant me thirty years of equal division of inheritances and a free press, and I will provide you with a republic. "

Alexis de Tocqueville

" A democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it. "

Alexis de Tocqueville

" An American cannot converse, but he can discuss, and his talk falls into a dissertation. He speaks to you as if he was addressing a meeting; and if he should chance to become warm in the discussion, he will say 'Gentlemen' to the person with whom he is conversing. "

Alexis de Tocqueville

" The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens. "

Alexis de Tocqueville