Chapter XVI.
“

Laws are always unstable unless they are founded on the manners of a nation; and manners are the only durable and resisting power in a people.

— Alexis de Tocqueville

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Laws are always unstable unless they are founded on the manners of a nation; and manners are the only durable and resisting power in a people." in the context of "Chapter XVI." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Alexis de Tocqueville" (Quotes, 1830s, Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)) 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.