We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects.
Alexis de TocquevilleConsider any individual at any period of his life, and you will always find him preoccupied with fresh plans to increase his comfort. Do not talk to him about the interests and rights of the human race; that little private business of his for the moment absorbs all his thoughts, and he hopes that public disturbances can be put off to some other time.
Alexis de TocquevilleI should have loved freedom, I believe, at all times, but in the time in which we live I am ready to worship it.
Alexis de TocquevilleThe happy and powerful do not go into exile, and there are no surer guarantees of equality among men than poverty and misfortune.
Alexis de Tocqueville