“I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest.”
Henry David Thoreau
Resistance to Civil Government (Primary source)
Resistance to Civil Government, commonly known as Civil Disobedience, is a foundational essay advocating for the moral responsibility to oppose unjust laws and government actions. Written after Thoreau’s imprisonment for refusing to pay a poll tax in protest of slavery and the Mexican-American War, the essay argues that individuals must prioritize conscience over blind obedience to the state.
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“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”
— Henry David Thoreau Primary source“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
— Henry David Thoreau Primary source“Moreover, I, on my side, require of every writer, first or last, a simple and sincere account of his own life, and not merely what he has heard of other men’s lives.”
— Henry David Thoreau Primary source“For our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often imprisoned rather than housed in them.”
— Henry David Thoreau Primary sourceMore quotes by Henry David Thoreau →
“He that can have patience can have what he will.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“A new-born government must dazzle.”
— Napoleon Bonaparte Disputed“I will not be triumphed over.”
— Cleopatra Disputed“That I am a foreigner is not my fault. I would rather have been born here.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary sourceFreedom Independence Resistance Strength