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
Better use has been made of association and this powerful instrument of action has been applied for more varied aims in America than anywhere else in the world.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the unique and diverse ways in which Americans utilize cooperation and associations for various purposes.
Alexis De Tocqueville reflects on the concept of associations in America, emphasizing that Americans have effectively harnessed the power of collective action. He suggests that the varied applications of such associations serve multiple aims, showcasing a distinctive aspect of American society where collaboration is a driving force in pursuing common goals.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the importance of teamwork in achieving common goals.
The aspect of American society is animated, because men and things are always changing; but it is monotonous, because all the changes are alike.
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.
Religion, which never intervenes directly in the government of American society, should therefore be considered as the first of their political institutions
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.
The Indian knew how to live without wants, to suffer without complaint, and to die singing.
Grant me thirty years of equal division of inheritances and a free press, and I will provide you with a republic.
Man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.
Caesar's wife must be above suspicion.
Law in general is human reason, inasmuch as it governs all the inhabitants of the earth: the political and civil laws of each nation ought to be only the particular cases in which human reason is applied.
Human history can be viewed as a slowly dawning awareness that we are members of a larger group Groups of people from divergent ethnic and cultural backgrounds working in some sense together [is] surely a humanizing and character building experience. If we are to survive, our loyalties must be broadened further, to include the whole human community, the entire planet Earth.
Most people would never admit it, but they'd been bitching since they were born. As soon as their head popped out into that bright delivery-room light, nothing had been right. Nothing had been as comfortable or felt so good. Just the effort it took to keep your stupid physical body alive, just finding food and cooking it and dishwashing, the keeping warm and bathing and sleeping, the walking and bowel movements and ingrown hairs, it was all getting to be too much work.
Bliss is a thing which is always there and is not something which comes and goes. That which comes and goes is a creation of the mind.
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