Democracy in America

Alexis de Tocqueville

(July 29, 1805 - April 16, 1859)

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A noted French historian and philosopher of the 19th century, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote a two-volume study of America entitled Democracy in America. Within those pages are a number of quotes that still are relevant to today. Here are a few of those thoughts that few politicans have the guts to embrace or quote in public:

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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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Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.

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In no other country in the world is the love of property keener or more alert than in the United States, and nowhere else does the majority display less inclination toward doctrines which in any way threaten the way property is owned.

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

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

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It cannot be repeated too often that nothing is more fertile in prodigies than the art of being free; but there is nothing more arduous than the apprenticeship of liberty. Such is not the case with despotic institutions: despotism often promises to make amends for a thousand previous ills; it supports the right, it protects the oppressed, and it maintains public order. The nation is lulled by the temporary prosperity which accrues to it, until it is roused to a sense of its own misery. Liberty, on the contrary, is generally established in the midst of agitation, it is perfected by civil discord, and its benefits cannot be appreciated until it is already old.

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I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers — and it was not there … in her fertile fields and boundless forests — and it was not there … in her rich mines and her vast world commerce — and it was not there … in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution — and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteous­ness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.