The aspect of American society is animated, because men and things are always changing; but it is monotonous, because all the changes are alike.
Alexis De TocquevilleRead
The only authors whom I acknowledge as American are the journalists. They, indeed, are not great writers, but they speak the language of their countrymen, and make themselves heard by them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
De Tocqueville emphasizes the significance of journalists in American society as the true voice of the people, despite their literary limitations.
In this quote, Alexis De Tocqueville highlights the unique role of journalists in American culture, contrasting them with traditional authors. He suggests that while journalists may not achieve the heights of literary greatness, they effectively communicate and resonate with the everyday experiences and language of the American populace, thereby fulfilling an important social function.
Themes
JournalismLanguageCommunicationSocietyAmerica
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the role of media in democracy.
More from Alexis De Tocqueville
All quotes →Democratic communities have a natural taste for freedom: left to themselves they will seek it, cherish it, and view any deprivation of it with regret. But for equality their passion is ardent, insatiable, incessant, invincible: they call for equality in freedom; and if they cannot obtain that, they still call for equality in slavery.
Alexis De TocquevilleRead
Religion, which never intervenes directly in the government of American society, should therefore be considered as the first of their political institutions
Alexis De TocquevilleRead
The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint, but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colours breaking through.
Alexis De TocquevilleRead
The Indian knew how to live without wants, to suffer without complaint, and to die singing.
Alexis De TocquevilleRead
Grant me thirty years of equal division of inheritances and a free press, and I will provide you with a republic.
Alexis De TocquevilleRead
Similar quotes
The art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.
Sun TzuRead
Not that that mystical stuff's necessarily true: The only thing that's capital-T true is that you get to decide how you're going to try to see it.
David Foster WallaceRead
Americanism is not a matter of skin or color.
Daniel InouyeRead
I have always knocked at the door of that wonderful and terrible enigma which is life.
Eugenio MontaleRead
Watch out for people who call themselves religious; make sure you know what they mean - make sure they know what they mean!
John IrvingRead
The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.
Thomas B. MacaulayRead