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Henry David Thoreau


  • The True Place For a Just Man

    Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison….When the subject has refused allegiance, and the officer has resigned his office, then the revolution is accomplished.

    — Henry David Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience"

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  • Stop the Machine

    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.

    — Henry David Thoreau
    "Civil Disobedience"

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  • When Tyranny and Inefficiency Are Great and Unendurable…

    All men recognize the right of revolution, that is, the right to refuse allegiance to and to resist the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable.

    — Henry David Thoreau
    "Civil Disobedience"

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  • Henry David Thoreau on Summer Weather Friendship

    I saw yet more distinctly the State in which I lived, I saw to what extent the people among whom I lived could be trusted as good neighbors and friends; that their friendship was for summer weather only; that they did not greatly purpose to do right; that they were a distinct race from me by their prejudices and superstitions…that, in their sacrifices to humanity, they ran no risks…[that] by walking in a particular straight though useless path from time to time, [they hoped] to save their souls.

    — Henry David Thoreau
    Civil Disobedience

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