“What chiefly diverts the men of democracies from lofty ambition is not the scantiness of their fortunes, but the vehemence of the exertions they daily make to improve them.”

— Alexis De Tocqueville, book Democracy in America

Book Three, Chapter XIX.
Democracy in America, Volume II (1840), Book Two

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Alexis De Tocqueville135

French political thinker and historian 1805–1859

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“The pursuit of wealth generally diverts men of great talents and strong passions from the pursuit of power; and it frequently happens that a man does not undertake to direct the fortunes of the state until he has shown himself incompetent to conduct his own.”

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Source: Democracy in America, Volume I (1835), Chapter X-XIV, Chapter XIII.

“Were the talents and virtues which heaven has bestowed on men given merely to make them more obedient drudges, to be sacrificed to the follies and ambition of a few? Or, were not the noble gifts so equally dispensed with a divine purpose and law, that they should as nearly as possible be equally exerted, and the blessings of Providence be equally enjoyed by all?”

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Not Disraeli but La Rochefoucauld; it is Maxim 308 in his Reflections.
Misattributed

“What chiefly diverts the men of democracies from lofty ambition is not the scantiness of their fortunes, but the vehemence of the exertions they daily make to improve them.”

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Alexis De Tocqueville135

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