“Nothing is more necessary to the culture of the higher sciences, or of the more elevated departments of science, than meditation; and nothing is less suited to meditation than the structure of democratic society.”

French diplomat, political philosopher and historian

Alexis de Tocqueville was a French diplomat, political philosopher, and historian. He lived from 1805 to 1859, and is best known for his books Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the Revolution. After traveling in the United States, he wrote Democracy in America, a study now seen as an early work of sociology and political science. He also reflected on his journeys in England and Ireland, examining living standards, social conditions, and the relationship between individuals, the market, and the state in Western societies.