Famous Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes

  • Men will not accept truth at the hands of their enemies, and truth is seldom offered to them by their friends – Alexis de Tocqueville

    Men will not accept truth at the hands of their enemies, and truth is seldom offered to them by their friends– Alexis de Tocqueville

  • Society is endangered not by the great profligacy of a few, but by the laxity of morals amongst all. – Alexis de Tocqueville

    Society is endangered not by the great profligacy of a few, but by the laxity of morals amongst all.– Alexis de Tocqueville

  • The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democracy, from beneath which the old aristocratic colors sometimes peep. – Alexis de Tocqueville

    The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democracy, from beneath which the old aristocratic colors sometimes peep.– Alexis de Tocqueville

  • The greatest difficulty in antiquity with that of altering the law; among the moderns, it is that of altering the manners. – Alexis de Tocqueville

    The greatest difficulty in antiquity with that of altering the law; among the moderns, it is that of altering the manners.– Alexis de Tocqueville

  • There is a natural prejudice which prompts men to despise whomsoever has been their inferior long after he has become their equal. – Alexis de Tocqueville

    There is a natural prejudice which prompts men to despise whomsoever has been their inferior long after he has become their equal.– Alexis de Tocqueville

  • Nations as well as men require time to learn, whatever may be their intelligence or zeal. – Alexis de Tocqueville

    Nations as well as men require time to learn, whatever may be their intelligence or zeal.– Alexis de Tocqueville

  • In America religion is the road to knowledge, and the observance of the divine laws leads man to civil freedom. – Alexis de Tocqueville

    In America religion is the road to knowledge, and the observance of the divine laws leads man to civil freedom.– Alexis de Tocqueville

  • Egotism fears its own self. – Alexis de Tocqueville

    Egotism fears its own self.– Alexis de Tocqueville

  • Sixty years is too brief a compass for man’s imagination. The incomplete joys of this world can never satisfy his heart. – Alexis de Tocqueville

    Sixty years is too brief a compass for man’s imagination. The incomplete joys of this world can never satisfy his heart.– 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. – 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.– Alexis de Tocqueville