If a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so a man. — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves. — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
I do not wish, it happens, to be associated with Massachusetts, either in holding slaves or in conquering Mexico. I am a… — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right… — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison, or give up war and slavery, the State will not hesitate… — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
If however the law is so promulgated that it of necessity makes you an agent of injustices against another, then I say… — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that… — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go: perchance it… — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
If the tax-gatherer, or any other public officer, asks me, as one has done, "But what shall I do?" my answer is,… — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resigns his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man… — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see, at least, that I do not pursue them sitting… — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
A very few, as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men, serve the state with their conscience also, and… — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
Cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence. A minority is powerless while it conforms to… — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
It is not a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most… — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
I know this well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men whom I could name,--if ten honest men only,--ay,… — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right… — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of… — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
“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 Copy Share Image
“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 Copy Share Image
“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 Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
A traveler who looks at things with an impartial eye may see what the oldest inhabitant has not observed. — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society. — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
The still youthful energies of the globe have only to be directed in their proper channel. — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
Concord's little arch does not span all our fate, nor is what transpires under it law for the universe. — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
