Title page from The Recollections of Alexis de Tocqueville (1896)

The Recollections of Alexis de Tocqueville (1896)

These are Tocqueville’s memoirs of the 1848 Revolution in France during which he was a Member of the Chamber of Deputies and a supporter the “party or order” against the socialists.

Key Quotes

Revolution

One thing was not ridiculous, but really ominous and terrible; and that was the appearance of Paris on my return. I found in the capital a hundred thousand armed workmen formed into regiments, out of work, dying of hunger, but with their minds crammed with vain theories and visionary hopes. I saw…