America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change seems an improvement. No natural boundary seems to be set to the efforts of man; and in his eyes what is not yet done is only what he has not attempted to do. - from Democracy in America

One of the happiest consequences of the absence of government...is the development of individual strength that inevitably follows.

I see no clear reason why the doctrine of self-interest properly understood should turn men away from religious beliefs.

Of all the countries of the world America is the one where the movement of thought and human industry is the most continuous and swift.

Of all nations, those submit to civilization with the most difficulty which habitually live by the chase.

The most dangerous moment for a bad government is when it begins to reform.

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.