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Civil Disobedience quotes

Henry David Thoreau

English (22)

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“Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“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, Civil Disobedience
“I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“We should be men first, and subjects afterward.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“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.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“That government is best which governs least” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“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.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“I came into this world, not chiefly to make this a good place to live in, but to live in it, be it good or bad.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“If a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so a man.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“Truth is always in harmony with herself, and is not concerned chiefly to reveal the justice that may consist with wrong-doing.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done forever.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“The progress from an absolute to a limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, is a progress toward a true respect for the individual.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“Any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one already.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“The lawyer's truth is not Truth, but consistency or a consistent expediency.” Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience

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government individuality democracy right prison liberty justice respect power good individualism freedom men truth virtue law people state obedience life

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Henry David Thoreau quotes