If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the…

“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”

Henry David Thoreau

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Accepting inevitable flaws in governance may ease tension, but may also perpetuate injustice.

In simple terms: Let minor injustices slide.

Key Takeaway

Question systemic flaws.

Themes

politics justice patience

Mood

thoughtful serious

Type

philosophical ethical

When to use this quote

policy reform
activism
daily life
government operations

Key Concepts

ethical compromise social change

Questions to Reflect On

When is tolerance harmful?
How can we act without causing disruption?

A Different Perspective

Passive acceptance can enable oppression.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet

Civil disobedience Computers Disobedience Friction Government Injustice Justice Machines Politics

More by Henry David Thoreau

If ever I did a man any goodof course it was something exceptional and insignificant compared with the good or evil which I am…

Henry David Thoreau

Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.

Henry David Thoreau

“Men say they know many things; But lo! they have taken wings, — The arts and sciences, And a thousand appliances; The wind that…

Henry David Thoreau

I am not afraid of praise, for I have practiced it on myself.

Henry David Thoreau

“All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or back gammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and…

Henry David Thoreau

“This spending of the best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of…

Henry David Thoreau

As for doing good; that is one of the professions which is full. Moreover I have tried it fairly and, strange as it may…

Henry David Thoreau

A traveler who looks at things with an impartial eye may see what the oldest inhabitant has not observed.

Henry David Thoreau

In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the…

Henry David Thoreau

I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.

Henry David Thoreau

The still youthful energies of the globe have only to be directed in their proper channel.

Henry David Thoreau

Concord's little arch does not span all our fate, nor is what transpires under it law for the universe.

Henry David Thoreau

The lumberers rarely trouble themselves to put out their fires, such is the dampness of the primitive forest; and this is one cause, no…

Henry David Thoreau

“When he has obtained those things which are necessary to life, there is another alternative than to obtain the superfluities; and that is, to…

Henry David Thoreau

Wealth is measured by the level of experience in all aspects of life

Henry David Thoreau

Explore all 3,376 Henry David Thoreau quotes

More Civil disobedience quotes

[Putin] is a bully. And bullies only understand when we punch them in the nose, but we need to do that economically.

Kelly Ayotte

The world - and America - has been defined by people who haven't necessarily abided by the laws and the rules. Civil disobedience is…

Rory Kennedy

When you say 'no' and you get on the streets and you do an act of civil disobedience, it changes your psychology.

Gail Bradbrook

There is all the difference in the world between the criminal's avoiding the public eye and the civil disobedience's taking the law into his…

Hannah Arendt

Racial discrimination in elections in Texas is no mere historical artifact. To the contrary, Texas has been found in violation of the Voting Rights…

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

My first civil disobedience arrest for social justice was in 1986 for protesting the SDI.

Martin Sheen

Even here in America, we felt the cool, refreshing breeze of freedom when Nelson Mandela took the seat of Presidency in his country where…

Maya Angelou

Civil disobedience is a stimulation for the fighters and a challenge to the opponent, in the present instance, authority.

Mahatma Gandhi

“The only word these corporations know is more,” wrote Chris Hedges, former correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, and the New York…

Jim Marrs

A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority.

Henry David Thoreau

I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.

Martin Luther King, Jr

New concepts should be introduced by the power of imagery.

Douglas Coop

Civil disobedience can help to focus attention on a particular injustice. It was used historically to highlight wrongs in society - turning ancient redwood…

Michael Brune