Sections 1 I heartily accept the motto,—“That government is best which governs least;” 2 But, to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government… 3 “Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, As his corpse to the ramparts we hurried; Not a… 4 Paley, a common authority with many on moral questions, in his chapter on the “Duty of… 5 Practically speaking, the opponents to a reform in Massachusetts are not a hundred thousand… 6 I hear of a convention to be held at Baltimore, or elsewhere, for the selection of a… 7 It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any,… 8 Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and… 9 I do not hesitate to say, that those who call themselves abolitionists should at once… 10 Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison. 11 I have contemplated the imprisonment of the offender, rather than the seizure of his… 12 When I converse with the freest of my neighbors, I perceive that, whatever they may say… 13 I have paid no poll-tax for six years. 14 The night in prison was novel and interesting enough. 15 It was like travelling into a far country, such as I had never expected to behold, to lie… 16 It was formerly the custom in our village, when a poor debtor came out of jail, for his… 17 I think sometimes, Why, this people mean well; they are only ignorant; they would do better… 18 “We must affect our country as our parents, And if at any time we alienate Out love of… 19 I know that most men think differently from myself; but those whose lives are by profession… 20 They who know of no purer sources of truth, who have traced up its stream no higher, stand,…
Start Learning Thoreau argues that conscience must outrank law and the state, and recounts his own night in jail for refusing to pay a tax that helped fund slavery and the war with Mexico.
"That government is best which governs least" Conscience over law Refusing the poll tax A night in jail Slavery and the Mexican War
20 sections · ~42 min read
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