America a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change seems an improvement……No Natural boundary seems to be set to the efforts of man;and in his eyes what is not yet done is only what he has not yet attempted to do.
Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes
What is most important for democracy is not that great fortunes should not exist, but that great fortunes should not remain in the same hands. In that way there are rich men, but they do not form a class.
Similar Quotes
Don’t sacrifice yourself too much, because if you sacrifice too much there’s nothing e...
- Karl LagerfeldThere is no happiness like that of being loved by your fellow creatures, and feeling that ...
- Charlotte BronteHappy girls are the prettiest.
- Audrey HepburnEach player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or ...
- Francois Marie ArouetBehold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.
- James Bryant ConantComments
| Birth: | 29th July, 1805 |
| Death: | 16th April, 1859 |
| Nationality: | French |
| Profession: | Historian |
Alexis de Tocqueville came from an old Norman aristocratic family with ancestors who participated in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Tocqueville, who despised the July Monarchy (1830–1848), began his political career at the start of the same period, 1830. Thus, he became deputy of the Manche department (Valognes), a position which he maintained until 1851. In parliament, he defended abolitionist views and upheld free trade, while supporting the colonisation of Algeria carried on by Louis-Philippe's regime. Tocqueville was also elected general counsellor of the Manche in 1842, and became the president of the department's conseil général between 1849 and 1851.
Tocqueville also made an observational tour of England, producing Memoir on Pauperism. In 1841 and 1846, he traveled to Algeria. His first travel inspired his Travail sur l'Algérie, in which he criticized the French model of colonisation.
In 1835 de Tocqueville made a journey through Ireland. His observations provide one of the best pictures of how Ireland stood before the Great Famine 1845-1849. After the fall of the July Monarchy during the February 1848 Revolution, Tocqueville was elected a member of the Constituent Assembly of 1848, where he became a member of the Commission charged with the drafting of the new Constitution of the Second Republic. He defended bicameralism and the election of the President of the Republic by universal suffrage. As the countryside was thought to be more conservative than the labouring population of Paris, universal suffrage was conceived as a means to counteract the revolutionary spirit of Paris.
A longtime sufferer from bouts of tuberculosis, Tocqueville would eventually succumb to the disease on April 16, 1859. He was buried in the Tocqueville cemetery in Normandy.
Related Authors
Advertisement
Today's Anniversary - 26th May
Births
- 1948 - Stevie Nicks
- 1913 - Peter Cushing
- 1884 - Alexander Wiley
- 1963 - Simon Armitage
- 1962 - Genie Francis
Deaths
- 1951 - Lincoln Ellsworth
- 2008 - Sydney Pollack
- 1853 - James Chalmers
- 1943 - Edsel Ford
- 1994 - George Ball
Quote of the day
Popular Topics
Advertisement
About Quoteswave
Our mission is to motivate, boost self confiedence and inspire people to Love life, live life and surf life with words.
Share with your friends