Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes


The nations of our time cannot prevent the conditions of men from becoming equal, but it depends upon themselves whether the principle of equality is to lead them to servitude or freedom, to knowledge or barbarism, to prosperity or wretchedness.


Citations

Tocqueville, Alexis de. Democracy in America. Translated by Henry Reeve, vol. 2, Saunders and Otley, 1840.

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Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis de Tocqueville
  • Born: July 29, 1805
  • Died: April 16, 1859
  • Nationality: French
  • Profession: Historian

Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville, colloquially known as Tocqueville (/ˈtɒkvɪl, ˈtoʊk-/), was a French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist, political philosopher and historian. He is best known for his works Democracy in America (appearing in two volumes, 1835 and 1840) and The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856). In both, he analysed the improved living standards and social conditions of individuals as well as their relationship to the market and state in Western societies. Democracy in America was published after Tocqueville's travels in the United States and is today considered an early work of sociology and political science.