"Tocqueville was a Liberal of the purest breed—a Liberal and nothing else, deeply suspicious of democracy and its kindred, equality, centralisation and utilitarianism. Of all writers he is the most widely acceptable, and the hardest to find fault with. He is always wise, always right, and as just as Aristides. His intellect is without a flaw, but it is limited and constrained. He knows political literature and history less well than political life; his originality is not creative, and he does not stimulate with gleams of new light or unfathomed suggestiveness."
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
Lord Acton, ‘Appendix: The Literature of the Revolution’ (c. 1895–99), in J. N. Figgis and R. V. Laurence (eds.), Lectures on the French Revolution (1910), pp. 356–57
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexis_de_Tocqueville
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
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."
"Step back in time; look closely at the child in the very arms of his mother; see the external world reflected for the…"
"Born under another sky, placed in the middle of an always-moving scene, himself driven by the irresistible torrent wh…"
"The French want no-one to be their superior. The English want inferiors. The Frenchman constantly raises his eyes abo…"
"As one digs deeper into the national character of the Americans, one sees that they have sought the value of everythi…"
"Men sometimes submit to shame, to tyranny, to conquest, but they never long suffer anarchy. There is no people so bar…"
"The Indian knew how to live without wants, to suffer without complaint, and to die singing."
"In the midst of this American society, so well policed, so sententious, so charitable, a cold selfishness and complet…"
"The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; morals can turn the worst laws to advantage. That i…"