None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the inherent right of individuals to revolt against a government that becomes oppressive or ineffective.
Henry David Thoreau's quote asserts that when a government becomes tyrannical or fails to serve its people effectively, individuals have a moral and legal right to resist it and refuse their allegiance. This idea of revolution is portrayed as a fundamental right to reclaim liberty and ensure justice, suggesting that citizens should not passively accept unjust conditions.
Themes
RevolutionTyrannyResistanceGovernmentAllegiance
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on civil rights, one could cite this quote to highlight the importance of standing up against governmental oppression.
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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An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
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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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And if a minister shall usurp the supreme and absolute govern ment of America, and set up his instructions as laws in the colonies, and their Governors shall be so weak or so wicked, as for the sake of keeping their places, to be made the instruments in putting them in execu tion, who will presume to say that the people have not a right, or that it is not their indispensible duty to God and their Country, by all rational means in their power to RESIST THEM.
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