Just a few thoughts from Alexis de Tocqueville

from "Democracy in America"

The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.

When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.

The health of a democratic society may be measured in the quality of functions performed by private citizens.

Democracy and socialism have nothing in common by one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.