"In the midst of this American society, so well policed, so sententious, so charitable, a cold selfishness and complete insensibility prevails when it is a question of the natives of the country. The Americans of the United States do not let their dogs hunt the Indians as do the Spaniards in Mexico, but at the bottom it is the same pitiless feeling which here, as everywhere else, animates the European race. This world here belongs to us, they tell themselves every day: the Indian race is destined for final destruction which one cannot prevent and which it is not desirable to delay. Heaven has not made them to become civilised; it is necessary that they die. Besides I do not want to get mixed up in it. I will not do anything against them: I will limit myself to providing everything that will hasten their ruin. In time I will have their lands and will be innocent of their death. Satisfied with his reasoning, the American goes to church where he hears the minister of the gospel repeat every day that all men are brothers, and that the Eternal Being who has made them all in like image, has given them all the duty to help one another."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from FrancePhilosophers from FranceHistorians from FranceCultural criticsSociologists from France
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Journey to America, notebooks 1831-1832 translated by George Lawrence (1960)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexis_de_Tocqueville
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Alexis de Tocqueville
1805 – 1859
158 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Alexis de Tocqueville →
Related Quotes
"When the ranks of society are unequal, and men unlike one another in condition, there are some individuals wielding t…"
"Those that despise people will never get the best out of others and themselves."
"The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint, but from time to time one can see the ol…"
"As one digs deeper into the national character of the Americans, one sees that they have sought the value of everythi…"
"Step back in time; look closely at the child in the very arms of his mother; see the external world reflected for the…"
"The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; morals can turn the worst laws to advantage. That i…"
"Born under another sky, placed in the middle of an always-moving scene, himself driven by the irresistible torrent wh…"
"The Indian knew how to live without wants, to suffer without complaint, and to die singing."
"Men sometimes submit to shame, to tyranny, to conquest, but they never long suffer anarchy. There is no people so bar…"
"So many of my thoughts and feelings are shared by the English that England has turned into a second native land of th…"