The aspect of American society is animated, because men and things are always changing; but it is monotonous, because all the changes are alike.
Alexis De TocquevilleRead
I have an intellectual inclination for democratic institutions, but I am instinctively an aristocrat, which means that I despise and fear the masses. I passionately love liberty, legality, the respect for rights, but not democracy....liberty is my foremost passion. That is the truth.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a conflict between valuing democratic ideals and having an inherent distrust of the masses.
Alexis De Tocqueville reveals a tension in his beliefs; while he appreciates the principles of democracy such as liberty and legal rights, he identifies more closely with aristocratic values and holds a certain disdain for the general populace. This duality reflects a complex understanding of governance, where liberty is held above all else, representing both a love for individual rights and a fear of collective decision-making.
Themes
DemocracyLibertyAristocracyRightsFear Of Masses
In practice
Example use cases
In a political debate emphasizing individual rights over collective decision-making.
More from Alexis De Tocqueville
All quotes →Democratic communities have a natural taste for freedom: left to themselves they will seek it, cherish it, and view any deprivation of it with regret. But for equality their passion is ardent, insatiable, incessant, invincible: they call for equality in freedom; and if they cannot obtain that, they still call for equality in slavery.
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Religion, which never intervenes directly in the government of American society, should therefore be considered as the first of their political institutions
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The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint, but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colours breaking through.
Alexis De TocquevilleRead
The Indian knew how to live without wants, to suffer without complaint, and to die singing.
Alexis De TocquevilleRead
Grant me thirty years of equal division of inheritances and a free press, and I will provide you with a republic.
Alexis De TocquevilleRead
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