Principium Volume I, Book 4, Quote 505, 507, 508, 509

505. It has been observed that man rarely retains his customary level in presence of very critical circumstances; he rises above or he sinks below his usual condition, and the same thing occurs in nations at large.

- Alexis de Toqueville – Democracy in America, 1835

507. Nevertheless, the art of administration may undoubtedly be ranked as a science, and no sciences can be improved if the discoveries and observations of successive generations are not connected together in the order in which they occur. One man, in the short space of his life remarks a fact; another conceives an idea; the former invents a means of execution, the latter reduces a truth to a fixed proposition; and mankind gathers the fruits of individual experience upon its way and gradually forms the sciences.

- Alexis de Toqueville – Democracy in America, 1835

(This is precisely why we should not disregard the past.)ATJ

508. (10-5-2009) Although a democratic government is founded upon a very simple and natural principle, it always presupposes the existence of a high degree of culture and enlightenment in society.

- Alexis de Toqueville – Democracy in America, 1835

(So that the people can administrate themselves)ATJ

509. (10-6-2009) Wherever the poor direct public affairs and dispose of the national resources, it appears certain that, as they profit by the expenditure of the State, they are apt to augment that expenditure.

- Alexis de Toqueville – Democracy in America, 1835

(so easily understood)ATJ