The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; mora…

Alexis de Tocqueville
184 citations
The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; morals can turn the worst laws to advantage. ✨ De la supériorité des mœurs sur les lois. Oeuvres complètes, Volume VIII, p. 286., 1831.
Politics
18

More Author Quotes

The character of Anglo-American civilization . . . is the product . . . of two perfectly distinct elements that elsewhere have often made war with each other, but which, in America, they have succeed … ▶
I am obliged to confess that I do not regard the abolition of slavery as a means of warding off the struggle of the two races in the Southern states. The Negroes may long remain slaves without compla … ▶
A democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it. ✨ Alexis de Tocqueville (2003). Democracy in America, p.708, Regnery Publishing
Though it is very important for man as an individual that his religion should be true, that is not the case for society. Society has nothing to fear or hope from another life; what is most important … ▶
Not only does democracy make every man forget his ancestors, but also clouds their view of their descendants and isolates them from their contemporaries. Each man is for ever thrown back on himself a … ▶

The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; morals can turn the worst laws to advantage. ✨ De la supériorité des mœurs sur les lois. Oeuvres complètes, Volume VIII, p. 286., 1831.

More Author Quotes

Most Cited Authors

The Best Quotes

Most Liked Authors

Curated Author Quotes