“It is odd to watch with what feverish ardor the
Americans pursue prosperity and how they are ever tormented by the shadowy
suspicion that they may not have chosen the shortest route to get it. Americans
cleave to the things of this world as if assured that they will never die, and
yet are in such a rush to snatch any that come within their reach, as if
expecting to stop living before they have relished them. They clutch everything
but hold nothing fast, and so lose their grip as they hurry after some new
delight.”— French diplomat, political scientist, historian, and observer of
America Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859),
Democracy in America,
translated and edited by Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthrop (1835)
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