“ The evil is not merely a stagnation of blood, but a stagnation of spirit. ”
Henry David Thoreau, A Plea For Captain John Brown (1859). copy citation
| Author | Henry David Thoreau |
|---|---|
| Source | A Plea For Captain John Brown |
| Topic | evil spirit |
| Date | 1859 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2567/2567-h/2567-h.htm |
Context
“He has consented to perform certain old established charities, too, after a fashion, but he does not wish to hear of any new-fangled ones; he doesn’t wish to have any supplementary articles added to the contract, to fit it to the present time. He shows the whites of his eyes on the Sabbath, and the blacks all the rest of the week. The evil is not merely a stagnation of blood, but a stagnation of spirit. Many, no doubt, are well disposed, but sluggish by constitution and by habit, and they cannot conceive of a man who is actuated by higher motives than they are. Accordingly they pronounce this man insane, for they know that they could never act as he does, as long as they are themselves.”
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