Alexis de Tocqueville

In democratic countries, the most important of all political questions is not what laws are made, but how they are executed.

The Americans are a very religious people, but they are not a very devout people.

The love of public order is the ruling passion of civilized nations.

The principle of equality, which has triumphed in the political world, is now extending its conquests to the social world.

The American is a man of the present, not of the past or the future.

The most dangerous of all oppressions is that which is exercised by the majority.

The American is a man of action, not of thought.

The more I see of the world, the more I am convinced that the only way to be happy is to be useful.

The American is a man of the future, not of the past.

Democracy extends the sphere of individual freedom, but it also creates a new form of servitude.

The greatest danger that threatens democracy is the abuse of power by the majority.

I have a passionate love for liberty, law, and respect for rights.

The American republic will endure until a demagogue discovers that he can bribe the public with public money.

It is difficult to imagine how a man who has entirely given up the habit of commanding himself can be expected to govern others.

The Americans have shown that it is possible to combine the greatest degree of individual liberty with the most perfect social order.

I am not an optimist, but I am not a pessimist either. I am a realist.

The most dangerous of all oppressions is that which is exercised in the name of the people.

I have always believed that the best way to serve one's country is to tell it the truth.

The future is not what it used to be.

The more I study the world, the more I am convinced that there is no such thing as chance.