Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes about Destiny

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There are at the present time two great nations in the world--the Russians and the Americans. The American relies upon his personal interest to accomplish his ends and gives free scope to the unguided exertions and

There are at the present time two great nations in the world--the Russians and the Americans. The American relies upon his personal interest to accomplish his ends and gives free scope to the unguided exertions and common sense of the people. The Russian centers all his authority of society in a single arm. The principal instrument of the former is freedom; of the latter, servitude. Their starting point is different and their courses are not the same; yet each of them seems marked by the will of Heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Destiny, Two, Rely Upon

When fortune has been abolished, when every profession is open to everyone, an ambitious man may think it is easy to launch himself on a great career and feel that he has been called to no common destiny. But this is a delusion which experience quickly corrects.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Depressing, Destiny, Men

Nations, as well as man, almost always betray the most prominent features of their future destiny in their earliest years. When I contemplate the ardour with which the Anglo-Americans prosecute commercial enterprise, the advantages which befriend them, and the success of their undertakings, I cannot refrain from believing that they will one day become the first maritime power of the globe. They are born to rule the seas, as the Romans were to conquer the world.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Believe, Destiny, Men

Alexis de Tocqueville (1835). “Democracy in America”, p.447

One has freedom as the principal means of action; the other has servitude. Their . . . paths [are] diverse; nevertheless, each seems called by some secret design of Providence one day to hold in its hands the destinies of half the world.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Mean, Destiny, Hands

"Democracy in America". Book by Alexis de Tocqueville (originally published 1835-1840), translated by George Lawrence, vol. 1, part 2, Conclusion, final paragraphs, p. 412-413, 1969.