Alexis de Tocqueville

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.”

“In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve.”

“History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies.”

“The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens.”

“Life is to be entered upon with courage.”

“Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.”

“Democracy extends the sphere of individual freedom.”

“Nothing is more wonderful than the art of being free, but nothing is harder to learn how to use than freedom.”

“I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America.”

“Amongst democratic nations, each new generation is a new people.”

“When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.”

“It is easier for the world to accept a simple lie than a complex truth.”

“The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.”

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

“Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.”