Democracy does not give the people the most skillful government, but it produces what the ablest governments are frequently unable to create: namely, an all-pervading and restless activity, a superabundant force, and an energy which is inseparable from it and which may, however unfavorable circumstances may be, produce wonders.

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) French writer, diplomat, politician

Democracy in America, 1.14 (1835) [tr. Reeve and Bowen (1862)]