Said of Napoleon (1842), "Discours de réception a L'Académie Française prononcé le 21 Avril 1842" Oeuvres complètes, vol. IX, p. 17
• Original text :
Il était aussi grand qu'un homme puisse l'être sans la vertu.
“

He was as great as a man can be without morality.

— Alexis de Tocqueville

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "He was as great as a man can be without morality." in the context of "Said of Napoleon (1842), "Discours de réception a L'Académie Française prononcé le 21 Avril 1842" Oeuvres complètes, vol. IX, p. 17
• Original text :
Il était aussi grand qu'un homme puisse l'être sans la vertu." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Alexis de Tocqueville" (Quotes, 1840s) 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.