What is understood by republican government in the United States is the slow and quiet action of society upon itself.
Alexis de TocquevilleMen seldom take the opinion of their equal, or of a man like themselves, upon trust.
Alexis de TocquevilleOne has freedom as the principal means of action; the other has servitude. Their . . . paths [are] diverse; nevertheless, each seems called by some secret design of Providence one day to hold in its hands the destinies of half the world.
Alexis de TocquevilleDemocracy encourages a taste for physical gratification; this taste, if it becomes excessive, soon disposes men to believe that all is matter only; and materialism, in its turn, hurries them on with mad impatience to these same delights; such is the fatal circle within which democratic nations are driven round. It were well that they should see the danger and hold back.
Alexis de Tocqueville