"Every nation that has ended in tyranny has come to that end by way of good order. It certainly does not follow from this that peoples should scorn pub...
Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.
~ Alexis de Tocqueville ~
Photo by Ákos Szabó
Photo by Ian Turnell
Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.
More Alexis de Tocqueville quotes
"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...
"It is indeed difficult to imagine how men who have entirely renounced the habit of managing their own affairs could be successful in choosing those wh...
"I passionately love liberty, legality, respect for rights, but not democracy. That is what I find in the depth of my soul.
"Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.
"It's not an endlessly expanding list of rights — the 'right' to education, the 'right' to health care, the 'right' to food and housing. That's not fre...
"What good does it do me, after all, if an ever-watchful authority keeps an eye out to ensure that my pleasures will be tranquil and races ahead of me ...
"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.
"It is above all in the present democratic age that the true friends of liberty and human grandeur must remain constantly vigilant and ready to prevent...
"Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism...
"I had rather mistrust my own capacity than God's justice.
"The religionists are the enemies of liberty, and the friends of liberty attack religion; the high-minded and the noble advocate bondage, and the meane...
"What good does it do me, after all, if an ever-watchful authority keeps an eye out to ensure that my pleasures will be tranquil and races ahead of me ...
"Men will not accept truth at the hands of their enemies, and truth is seldom offered to them by their friends
"He who in given cases consents to obey his fellows with servility, and who submits his will, and even his thoughts, to their control, how can he prete...