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
He [Napoleon] was as great as a man can be without morality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that greatness is possible even without a moral foundation.
Alexis De Tocqueville reflects on Napoleon's remarkable achievements and influence, asserting that he reached a peak of human greatness despite lacking a moral compass. This prompts a discussion about the nature of greatness, questioning whether accomplishments can truly be celebrated when they are not anchored in ethical considerations.
Themes
GreatnessMoralityPowerNapoleonPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about leadership qualities, this quote could illustrate the tension between ethical behavior and successful outcomes.
More from Alexis De Tocqueville
All quotes βDemocratic 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
Youth is an unpleasant period; for then it is not possible or not prudent to be productive in any sense whatsoever.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The only education in grief that any of us ever gets is a crash course. Until Caroline had died I had belonged to that other world, the place of innocence, and linear expectations, where I thught grief was a simple, wrenching realm of sadness and longing that graduallu receded. What that definition left out was the body blow that loss inflicts, as well as the temporary madness, and a range of less straightforward emotions shocking in their intensity.
Gail CaldwellRead
What you do, what you say, how you react to critical situations defines not just the moment, but it defines and shapes you.
Christiane AmanpourRead
Everybody believes in something and everybody, by virtue of the fact that they believe in something, uses that something to support their own existence.
Frank ZappaRead
Petroleum is a more likely cause of international conflict than wheat.
Simone WeilRead
There is not a thing as the wrong place, or the wrong time. We are where we are at the only time we have. Perhaps it's where we're meant to be.
Shashi TharoorRead