{"id":6988,"date":"2017-05-21T14:47:47","date_gmt":"2017-05-21T19:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.twocities.org\/?p=6988"},"modified":"2017-05-21T14:50:16","modified_gmt":"2017-05-21T19:50:16","slug":"my-go-to-frenchman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/?p=6988","title":{"rendered":"MY GO TO FRENCHIE"},"content":{"rendered":"

I interviewed Tracy McKenzie of Wheaton College.\u00a0 He is a terrific guy and stellar historian.\u00a0 Like me, he finds Alexis de Tocqueville\u2019s Democracy in America, <\/em>one of the most relevant books ever written on our country.\u00a0 And it was penned by a Frenchman visiting our land in the early 1830s.\u00a0 Here is a sample of quotes Tracy liked from his terrific blog at https:\/\/faithandamericanhistory.wordpress.com\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

* \u201cGenerally speaking, only simple conceptions can grip the mind of a nation.\u00a0 An idea that is clear and precise even though false will always have greater power in the world than an idea that is true but complex.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

* \u201cMan firmly believes a thing because he accepts it without looking deeply into it.\u00a0 He begins to doubt when objections are raised.\u00a0 In many cases he succeeds in laying all his doubts to rest and begins to believe again.\u00a0 Then he no longer clings to a truth plucked at random from the darkness but stares truth in the face and marches directly toward its light. . . . We can be sure that the majority of men will remain in one of these two states: they will either believe without knowing why, or not know precisely what they ought to believe.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

* \u201cBut nothing is harder than the apprenticeship of liberty.\u00a0 This is not true of despotism.\u00a0 Despotism often presents itself as the remedy for all ills suffered in the past.\u00a0 It is the upholder of justice, the champion of the oppressed, and the founder of order.\u00a0 Nations are lulled to sleep by the temporary prosperity to which it gives rise, and when they are awake, they are miserable.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

* \u201cAmericans do not converse; they argue.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

* \u201cIn America centralization is not popular, and there is no cleverer way to court the majority than to rail against the alleged encroachments of the central government.\u201d \u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

* \u201cNow, what has to be said in order to please the voters is not always what would best serve the political opinion they profess.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

* \u201cIt is astonishing to see how few, how weak, and how unworthy are the hands into which a great people can fall.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

And My All-Time Favorite . . .<\/h2>\n

* \u201cWhen the past is no longer capable of shedding light on the future, the mind can only proceed in darkness.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alexis de Tocqueville, circa 1850<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I interviewed Tracy McKenzie of Wheaton College.\u00a0 He is a terrific guy and stellar historian.\u00a0 Like me, he finds Alexis de Tocqueville\u2019s Democracy in America, one of the most relevant books ever written on our country.\u00a0 And it was penned by a Frenchman visiting our land in the early 1830s.\u00a0 Here is a sample of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-history"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6988"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6990,"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6988\/revisions\/6990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}