Here's a relevant paragraph:

Americans ... are fond of explaining almost all the actions of their lives by the principle of self-interest rightly understood; they show with complacency how an enlightened regard for themselves constantly prompts them to assist one another and inclines them willingly to sacrifice a portion of their time and property to the welfare of the state.

In this respect I think they frequently fail to do themselves justice, for in the United States as well as elsewhere people are sometimes seen to give way to those disinterested and spontaneous impulses that are natural to man; but the Americans seldom admit that they yield to emotions of this kind; they are more anxious to do honor to their philosophy than to themselves.

Mullfoto of the Day

Newt at Mackinac Island a couple of weeks ago. He didn't mention de Tocqueville, but it is where I heard about the bridge to Canada.

Catchy Caption of the Day

Actual Caption:

Oil is burned off the surface of the water near the source of the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana June 19, 2010.

Strangely, fatally, attractive.

REUTERS/Lee Celano/Files