The Americans never use the word peasant, because they have no idea of the class which that term denotes; the ignorance of more remote ages, the simplicity of rural life, and the rusticity of the villager have not been preserved among them; and they are alike unacquainted with the virtues, the vices, the coarse habits, and the simple graces of an early stage of civilization.
Alexis de TocquevilleThe progress of democracy seems irresistible, because it is the most uniform, the most ancient and the most permanent tendency which is to be found in history.
Alexis de TocquevilleThe more government takes the place of associations, the more will individuals lose the idea of forming associations and need the government to come to their help. That is a vicious circle of cause and effect.
Alexis de TocquevilleChristianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts, the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims.
Alexis de TocquevillePhysical strength therefore is one of the first conditions of happiness and even of the existence of nations.
Alexis de Tocqueville