Book Three, Chapter XXI.
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I cannot help fearing that men may reach a point where they look on every new theory as a danger, every innovation as a toilsome trouble, every social advance as a first step toward revolution, and that they may absolutely refuse to move at all.

— Alexis de Tocqueville

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I cannot help fearing that men may reach a point where they look on every new theory as a danger, every innovation as a toilsome trouble, every social advance as a first step toward revolution, and that they may absolutely refuse to move at all." in the context of "Book Three, Chapter XXI." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Alexis de Tocqueville" (Quotes, 1840s, Democracy in America, Volume II (1840)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Alexis de Tocqueville

About Alexis de Tocqueville

Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville (29 July 1805 – 16 April 1859) was a French political thinker and historian, most famous for his work Democracy in America.