In a revolution, as in a novel, the most difficult part to invent is the end.

No stigma attaches to the love of money in America, and provided it does not exceed the bounds imposed by public order, it is held in honor. The American will describe as noble and estimable ambition that our medieval ancestors would have called base cupidity.

Men living in democratic times have many passions, but most of their passions either end in the love of riches, or proceed from it.

A great democratic revolution is taking place in our midst.

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.

What is most important for democracy is not that great fortunes should not exist, but that great fortunes should not remain in the same hands. In that way there are rich men, but they do not form a class.

Consider any individual at any period of his life, and you will always find him preoccupied with fresh plans to increase his comfort.