“Providence has not created mankind entirely independent or entirely free. It is true that around every man a fatal circle is traced beyond which he cannot pass, but within the wide verge of that circle he is powerful and free; as it is with man, so with communities. The nations of our time cannot prevent the conditions of men from becoming equal; but it depends upon themselves whether the principle of equality is to lead them to servitude or freedom, to knowledge or barbarism, to prosperity or wretchedness.” – Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man.

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Feliks Topolski, "Providence has not created mankind entirely independent or entirely free. It is true that around every man a fatal circle is traced beyond which he cannot pass, but within the wide verge of that circle he is powerful and free; as it is with man, so with communities. The nations of our time cannot prevent the conditions of men from becoming equal; but it depends upon themselves whether the principle of equality is to lead them to servitude or freedom, to knowledge or barbarism, to prosperity or wretchedness."--Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man., 1952, conte crayon on paper mounted on paperboard, sheet: 13 ³⁄₄ x 11 in. (35.0 x 27.8 cm) irregular, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.289