"One would think, that a deliberate and practical denial of its authority was the only offence never contemplated by government; else, why has it not assigned its definite, its suitable and proportionate, penalty? If a man who has no property refuses but once to earn nine shillings for the State, he is put in prison for a period unlimited by any law that I know, and determined only by the discretion of those who placed him there; but if he should steal ninety times nine shillings from the State, he is soon permitted to go at large again. If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go; perchance it will wear smooth — certainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has a spring, or a pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; 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. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Civil_Disobedience_(Thoreau)
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Civil Disobedience (Thoreau)
Civil Disobedience (1849) is an essay by Henry David Thoreau expressing his belief that people should not allow governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences and that people have a duty both to avoid doing injustice directly and to avoid allowing their acquiescence to enable the government to make them the agents of injustice. Thoreau was motivated in part by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican-American War.
42 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Civil Disobedience (Thoreau) →
Related Quotes
"The lawyer's truth is not truth, but consistency or a consistent expediency. Truth is always in harmony with herself,…"
"I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to m…"
"To speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no …"
"The mass of men serve the state […], not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing arm…"
"He who gives himself entirely to his fellow-men appears to them useless and selfish; but he who gives himself partial…"
"How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today? I answered that he cannot without disgrace …"
"All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government,…"
"All machines have their friction; and possibly this does enough good to counterbalance the evil. At any rate, it is a…"
"We are accustomed to say, that the mass of men are unprepared; but improvement is slow, because the few are not mater…"
"Statesmen and legislators, standing so completely within the institution, never distinctly and nakedly behold it. The…"