Providence has not created mankind entirely independent or entirely free. It is true… — Alexis de Tocqueville
Providence has not created mankind entirely independent or entirely free. It is true that around every man a fatal circle is traced, beyond which he cannot pass; but within the wide verge of that circle he is powerful and free.
In the original French
La providence n'a créé le genre humain ni entièrement indépendant, ni tout à fait esclave. Elle trace, il est vrai, autour de chaque homme un cercle fatal, dont il ne peut sortir; mais dans ses vastes limites, l'homme est puissant et libre; ainsi des peuples.
Democracy in America · 1840
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Current citation
Tocqueville, Alexis De. Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II, translated by Henry Reeve. Bantam Classics, 2000, vol. 2, bk. 4, ch. 8.
Original citation
Tocqueville, Alexis De. De La Democratie en Amerique [Democracy in America]. Vol. 2, London: Saunders and Otley, 1840, bk. 4, ch. 8.
