dots-menu
×

Home  »  Respectfully Quoted  »  Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–59)

Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.

 
NUMBER: 1598
AUTHOR: Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–59)
QUOTATION: When a monarchy gradually transforms itself into a republic, the executive power there preserves titles, honors, respect, and even money long after it has lost the reality of power. The English, having cut off the head of one of their kings and chased another off the throne, still go on their knees to address the successors of those princes. On the other hand, when a republic falls under one man’s yoke, the ruler’s demeanor remains simple, unaffected, and modest, as if he had not already been raised above everybody.
ATTRIBUTION: ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, Democracy in America, ed. J. P. Mayer, trans. George Lawrence, vol. 1, part 1, chapter 8, p. 123 (1969). Originally published in 1835–1840.
SUBJECTS: Republic