I have no hesitation in saying that although the American woman never leaves her domestic sphere and is in some respects very dependent within it, no… - Alexis de Tocqueville

It would seem as if the rulers of our time sought only to use men in order to make things great; I wish that they would try a little more to make great men; that they would set less value on the work and more upon the workman; that they would never forget that a nation cannot long remain strong when every man belonging to it is individually weak; and that no form or combination of social polity has yet been devised to make an energetic people out of a community of pusillanimous and enfeebled citizens.

Original text: Les meilleures lois ne peuvent faire marcher une constitution en dépit des mœurs; les mœurs tirent parti des pires lois. C'est là une vérité commune, mais à laquelle mes études me ramènent sans cesse. Elle est placée dans mon esprit comme un point central. Je l'aperçois au bout de toutes mes idées.

I should have loved freedom, I believe, at all times, but in the time in which we live I am ready to worship it.