Americans owe nothing to any man, they expect nothing from any man; they acquire the habit of always considering themselves as standing alone, and th… - Alexis de Tocqueville

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Americans owe nothing to any man, they expect nothing from any man; they acquire the habit of always considering themselves as standing alone, and they are apt to imagine that their whole destiny is in their own hands. Thus democracy throws [a man] back forever upon himself alone, and threatens in the end to confine him entirely within the solitude of his own heart.