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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.
Alexis De Tocqueville
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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.

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The aspect of American society is animated, because men and things are always changing; but it is monotonous, because all the changes are alike.
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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.
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The Indian knew how to live without wants, to suffer without complaint, and to die singing.
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Grant me thirty years of equal division of inheritances and a free press, and I will provide you with a republic.
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