Democracy in America (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Democracy in America

When I look back upon the busiest period of my life, i. e., up to about the age of twelve years, I recall the ardent enthusiasm and tireless enterprise which characterized my existence. I recall how the exciting rivalries and stirring adventures of youth so crowded every day of my life that I scarcely had time to eat or sleep, to say nothing of time for reflection. The world to me was altogether external. I was too busy weighing, measuring and manipulating it to have a moment available for introspection or self-consciousness.

One day, however, I chanced to pass through a room occupied by my sisters, wherein the numerous mirrors were so opposed as to reflect my life-sized figure from every angle. I stopped suddenly with a shock of surprise which I can never forget. For the first time in my life I felt self-conscious, and began to imagine how I appeared in the eyes of my friends and enemies.

As in the case of every individual, so I believe that every nation passes through a period of self-forgetfulness, and arrives at self-consciousness only with the coming of adolescence. At any rate, the American people have certainly passed through this spontaneous period.

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