"The New Englander is attached to his township because it is strong and independent; he has an interest in it because he shares in its management; he loves it because he has no reason to complain of his lot; he invests his ambition and his future in it; in the restricted sphere within his scope, he learns to rule society; he gets to know those formalities without which freedom can advance only through revolutions, and becoming imbued with their spirit, develops a taste for order, understands the harmony of powers, and in the end accumulates clear, practical ideas about the nature of his duties and the extent of his rights."
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Academics from FrancePhilosophers from FranceHistorians from FranceCultural criticsSociologists from France
Original Language: English
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Sources
Chapter V.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexis_de_Tocqueville
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Alexis de Tocqueville
1805 – 1859
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