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Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes about Power

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Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to

Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.

Alexis de Tocqueville
Power, Greatness, Flames
Misattributed to Tocqueville. "The Tocqueville Fraud" by John Pitney, www.weeklystandard.com. November 12, 1995.

Laws are always unstable unless they are founded on the manners of a nation; and manners are the only durable and resisting power in a people.

Alexis de Tocqueville
Power, Law, People
"Democracy in America". Book by Alexis de Tocqueville. Chapter XVI, 1835.

The power of the periodical press is second only to that of the people.

Alexis de Tocqueville
Power, People, Presses
Alexis De Tocqueville (1863). “Democracy In America -- Vol. 1”, p.239

Above this race of men stands an immense and tutelary power, which takes upon itself alone to secure their gratifications, and to watch over their fate. That power is absolute, minute, regular, provident, and mild. It would be like the authority of a parent, if, like that authority, its object was to prepare them for manhood; but it seeks, on the contrary, to keep them in perpetual childhood.

Alexis de Tocqueville
Fate, Men, Power
Alexis de Tocqueville (1863). “Democracy in America”, p.392

When the reality of power has been surrendered, it's playing a dangerous game to seek to retain the appearance of it; the external aspect of vigor can sometimes support a debilitated body, but most often it manages to deal it the final blow.

Alexis de Tocqueville
Blow, Power, Reality

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