The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; morals can turn the worst laws to advantage. That is a commonplace truth, but one to which my studies are always bringing me back. It is the central point in my conception. I see it at the end of all my reflections.
ATTRIBUTION:
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859), French social philosopher. “Concerning the Superiority of Morals to Laws,” vol. 2, aph. 5, Democracy in America (1840).
