with which it got out of its way. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. “Thoreau and the Art of Life: Precepts and Principles”, p.27, Heron Dance Press, Henry David Thoreau (2006). For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted, before the people can act through it.”. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men.”. A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. First, when what is ordered by an authority is opposed to the object for which that authority was constituted (if, for example, some sinful action is commanded or one which is contrary to virtue, when it is precisely for the protection and fostering of virtue that authority is instituted). Important Quotes. Yet the state is too often doing the harm. There Is No Pandemic And No Covid19!

Trade and commerce, if they were not made of It is only expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail. What I have to do is see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.”. Beautiful quotes.Share your passion for quotes. All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong. Law should never be mistaken for morality. And it has to start today. Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience (1849). Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe — "That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. It does not keep the country free. Most directly, civil disobedience constitutes a stabilizing or corrective device, allowing a democratic system to rectify its mistakes. I would agree with. – listen to the Minister’s evasion of the pertinent questions, New Zealand To Put COVID-19 Patients Into Mandatory Quarantine Camps, MANDATORY “quarantine camps” were just rolled out in New Zealand, a globalist testing ground for the mass extermination of humanity, Covid 21 is coming – the second half of a binary weapons system, BOMBSHELL: Covid-19 isn’t a pandemic plan, it’s an EXTERMINATION plan for humanity, THE BATTLE FOR HUMANITY – Dr Carrie Madej. But it also presents tremendous opportunity to take the power back, and reshape this world. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, “I was not born to be forced. If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see, at least, that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man's shoulders. Thoreau was 32 years old, living in Massachusetts. Witness the Let us see who is the strongest.”. Every day we present the best quotes! Henry David Thoreau believed that it was not only proper but necessary to disobey bad laws. If the tax-gatherer, or any other public officer, asks me, as one has done, "But what shall I do?" I must get off him first, that he may pursue his own contemplations too.”. I know this well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men whom I could name,--if ten honest men only,--ay, if one HONESTman, in this State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this copartnership, and be locked up in the county jail therefor, it would be the abolition of slavery in America. are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. Why has every man a conscience then? Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it. It is consistency, or consistent expediency”, “I saw to what extent the people among whom I lived could be trusted as good neighbors and friends; that their friendship was for summer weather only; that they did not greatly propose to do right; that they were a distinct race from me by their prejudices and superstitions,”, “Visit the Navy-Yard, and behold a marine, such a man as an American government can make, or such as it can make a man with its black arts, -a mere shadow and reminiscence of humanity, a man laid out alive and standing, and already, as one may say, buried under arms with funeral accompaniments, though it may be, -. The man who the world now knows as Henry David Thoreau was actually born David Henry Thoreau. All Quotes some complicated machinery or other, and hear its din, to What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn. At this point, Thoreau had already spent his time at Walden Pond. though a recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself “Thoreau: Political Writings”, p.3, Cambridge University Press, Henry David Thoreau (2002). Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe,-‘That government is best which governs not at all;’ and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.”. To illuminate this same concept, envision civil disobedience as a safety valve, drawing off dissent before that unrest boils over into more severe law breaking. “If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of government, let it go, let it go; perchance it will wear smooth,-certainly the machine will wear out… but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say break the law. Can there not be a government in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?

“The Essays of Henry D. Thoreau: Selected and Edited by Lewis Hyde”, p.207, North Point Press, Henry David Thoreau (1942). General Osborne shook his head sadly, you'll never make the heads of an army understand that. I will breathe after my own fashion. my answer is, "If you really wish to do anything, resign your office." integrity? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. — in which majorities decide only those questions to which the rule of expediency is applicable? The Figures That Show How We Are Being Lied To. There are no rules to keep that oil in the ground. “The Portable Thoreau”, p.79, Penguin. Does The Democratic Party Hate Donald Trump So Much That Their Only Option Left Is To Stop Him Is To Assassinate Him? Thoreau is talking about the “radical” idea of governing by consent of the governed. _It_ does not Actually, the original title of the essay was “Resistance to Civil Government”. The point is that government is only required when things need to be forced, and someday, we will live in a world where everything worth being done at all is done voluntarily. india-rubber, would never manage to bounce over obstacles Civil Disobedience is civil breach of unmoral statutory enactments. They reach for more power. Civil Disobedience Quotes Showing 1-30 of 95.
They have no genius or talent for comparatively humble questions of taxation and finance, commerce and manufacturers and agriculture. Henry David Thoreau (2015). somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority.”, “Any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one already.”, “There will never be a really free and enlightened state until the state comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived.”, “The rich man is always sold to the institution which makes him rich.”, “Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice.”, “Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator?

A government is one way to do that, if you need to build a road, or keep people safe. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.“, „Is a democracy, such as we know it, the last improvement possible in government? It is only expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail. The obedient must be slaves.” ― Henry David Thoreau satisfy that idea of government which they have. 1. Pope Francis Renews 2018 Covenant With Communist China Guaranteeing That Chinese Catholics Will Continue To Be Beaten, Tortured And Killed, Hunter Biden Associate Tony Bobulinski Flips And Provides Senate Investigators With Documents Proving Joe Biden Used VP Office For Profits, Follow Wake Up To The Truth on WordPress.com. Of course, it becomes degrading and despicable if its civil, i.e. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.

tags: force , human-nature , individuality , liberty , strength , uniqueness. Original title: Resistance to Civil Government.

“The progress from an absolute to a limited monarchy, from limited monarchy to a democracy, is a progress toward a true respect for the individual. “Thoreau and the Art of Life: Precepts and Principles”, p.23, Heron Dance Press, Henry David Thoreau (2012).

_It_ does not keep the Henry David Thoreau is one of the best poets of all time, essay writer, and philosopher. Although the essay was written 168 years ago, the subject of Civil Disobedience is more relevant than ever. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men. Civil Disobedience (1849)Context: All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. I said there is only one thing to be done and that is to teach them disobedience, as long as they are obedient so long sooner or later they will be ordered about by a bad man and there will be trouble. Certainly, we must break a law that requires us to do evil. If they “live aloof” but don’t hurt anyone, why shouldn’t they be left alone, to their own devices? a sort of wooden gun to the people themselves.

This American government--what is it but a tradition, “The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. Why is it not more apt to anticipate and provide for reform? It does not settle the West. Quotes By Henry David Thoreau. Matthew R. Hall, "Guilty but Civilly Disobedient: Reconciling Civil Disobedience and the Rule of Law. I will breathe after my own fashion.