Alexis de Tocqueville — "The American people are a people who are very fond of comfort, and they are not …"

"I am convinced that a great revolution is at hand, and that it will be more terrible than any that has yet occurred."

"The most important of all the advantages which democracy procures is not, as has been sometimes supposed, the good of all, but the greatest possible good of the greatest number."

"The Americans are a people who are very proud of their country, but they are also a people who are very critical of it."

"The Americans have a great taste for physical gratifications. They are always seeking to procure them, and they are never satisfied."

"I have always found that the most intelligent people are those who are most willing to admit their ignorance."