Government Quotes by Henry David Thoreau

That government is best which governs least.

— Henry David Thoreau

“That government is best that governs not at all.”

— Henry David Thoreau

I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government

— Henry David Thoreau

If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another,…

— Henry David Thoreau

So long as a man is faithful to himself, everything is in his favor, government, society, the very sun, moon, and stars.

— Henry David Thoreau

The effect of a good government is to make life more valuable; of a bad one, to make it less valuable.

— Henry David Thoreau

That government is best which governs not at all; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of…

— Henry David Thoreau

Is a democracy, such as we know it, the last improvement possible in government? Is it not possible to take a step…

— Henry David Thoreau

A man may grow rich in Turkey even, if he will be in all respects a good subject of the Turkish government.

— Henry David Thoreau

How does it become a man to behave towards the American government today? I answer, that he cannot without disgrace be associated…

— Henry David Thoreau

“This [...] government [...] has not the vitality and force of a single living man; for a single man cam bend it…

— Henry David Thoreau

The newspapers are the ruling power. Any other government is reduced to a few marines at Fort Independence. If a man neglects…

— Henry David Thoreau

To one who habitually endeavors to contemplate the true state of things, the political state can hardly be said to have any…

— Henry David Thoreau

Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have…

— Henry David Thoreau

The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if…

— Henry David Thoreau

I wish my countrymen to consider that whatever the human law may be, neither an individual nor a nation can ever commit…

— Henry David Thoreau

The only government that I recognize--and it matters not how few are at the head of it, or how small its army--is…

— Henry David Thoreau

It is not for a man to put himself in such an attitude to society, but to maintain himself in whatever attitude…

— Henry David Thoreau

If private men are obliged to perform the offices of government, to protect the weak and dispense justice, then the government becomes…

— Henry David Thoreau

In 1694 a law was passed "that every settler who deserted a town for fear of the Indians should forfeit all his…

— Henry David Thoreau

I do not hesitate to say, that those who call themselves Abolitionists should at once effectually withdraw their support, both inperson and…

— Henry David Thoreau

I do not remember anything which Confucius has said directly respecting man's "origin, purpose, and destiny." He was more practical than that.…

— Henry David Thoreau

I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to…

— Henry David Thoreau

Webster never goes behind government, and so cannot speak with authority about it. His words are wisdom to those legislators who contemplate…

— Henry David Thoreau

f the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go; perchance it…

— Henry David Thoreau

After all, the practical reason why, when the power is once in the hands of the people, a majority are permitted, and…

— Henry David Thoreau

No: until I want the protection of Massachusetts to be extended to me in some distant Southern port, where my liberty is…

— Henry David Thoreau

“Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we…

— Henry David Thoreau

The authority of government . . . can have no pure right over my person and property but what I concede to it.

— Henry David Thoreau

The government of the world I live in was not framed, like that of Britain, in after-dinner conversations over the wine.

— Henry David Thoreau

Why does it [government] always crucify Christ, and excommunicate Copernicus and Luther, and pronounce Washington and Franklin rebels?

— Henry David Thoreau

While the Governor, and the Mayor, and countless officers of the Commonwealth are at large, the champions of liberty are imprisoned.

— Henry David Thoreau

The oldest, wisest politician grows not more human so, but is merely a gray wharf rat at last.

— Henry David Thoreau

Give me a country where it is the most natural thing in the world for a government that does not understand you…

— Henry David Thoreau

Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient.

— Henry David Thoreau

When I meet a government which says to me, "Your money or your life," why should I be in haste to give…

— Henry David Thoreau

“for the people must have some complicated machinery or other, and hear its din, to satisfy that idea of government which they…

— Henry David Thoreau

It is impossible to give a soldier a good education without making him a deserter. His natural foe is the government that…

— Henry David Thoreau

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

“The progress from an absolute to a limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, is a progress toward a true…

— Henry David Thoreau