the soul comes into its own and meditates upon itself

In the United States, when the seventh day comes, trade and industry seem suspended throughout the nation. All noise stops. A deep repose, or rather solemn contemplation takes its place. At last the soul comes into its own and meditates upon itself…

Thus it is that the American in some degree from time to time escapes from himself, and for a moment free from the petty passions that trouble his life and the passing interests that fill it, he suddenly breaks into an ideal world where all is great, pure, and eternal.


Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America p.514 as quoted in One Nation Under God: The History of Prayer in America by James P. Moore, Jr. Doubleday, 2005. p.106