“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, and treats him accordingly.”
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 was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest.”
— 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“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 sourceMore quotes by Henry David Thoreau →
“Insist on yourself; never imitate.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“He that never eats too much, will never be lazy.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The golden age never was the present age.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Never buy a what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you.”
— Thomas Jefferson Primary sourceGovernment Independence Freedom Individualism