None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Thoreau argues that if a law requires you to act unjustly, you should resist it.
In this quote, Henry David Thoreau emphasizes the moral responsibility of individuals to oppose unjust laws. He suggests that a government that demands its citizens to perpetrate injustice contradicts its purpose of serving the people, advocating for civil disobedience as a means to uphold justice and integrity against oppressive legislation.
Themes
GovernmentInjusticeLawCivil DisobedienceMorality
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on ethics and governance at a community meeting.
More from Henry David Thoreau
All quotes βThrough want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling and spending their lives like servants.
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Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings. The reality will make any sincere record respectable.
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As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.
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That grand old poem called Winter
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