On the Duty of Civil Disobedience | Henry David Thoreau | Essays | Essays | eBooks


On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

by Henry David Thoreau


On the Duty of Civil Disobedience - Adobe eBook

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience ~~ Adobe eBook

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On the Duty of Civil Disobedience - Microsoft Reader eBook

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience ~~ Microsoft Reader eBook

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On the Duty of Civil Disobedience - Microsoft Reader eBook

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience ~~ Microsoft Reader eBook

Microsoft Reader eBook

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Windows 98+, Tablet PC, Pocket PC 2003

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On the Duty of Civil Disobedience - Microsoft Reader eBook

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience ~~ Microsoft Reader eBook

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On the Duty of Civil Disobedience - Mobipocket eBook

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience ~~ Mobipocket eBook

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On the Duty of Civil Disobedience - Mobipocket eBook

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience ~~ Mobipocket eBook

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On the Duty of Civil Disobedience - Mobipocket eBook

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience ~~ Mobipocket eBook

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Windows PC, Palm, Pocket PC, Windows Mobile, SymbianOS, Blackberry, iLiad, eBookMan, and more.

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On the Duty of Civil Disobedience - Palm eBook

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience ~~ Palm eBook

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On the Duty of Civil Disobedience - Palm eBook

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience ~~ Palm eBook

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On the Duty of Civil Disobedience ~~ HTML eBook

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On the Duty of Civil Disobedience ~~ Microsoft Word eBook

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On the Duty of Civil Disobedience ~~ Plain Text eBook

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On the Duty of Civil Disobedience Summary:

One of the most important documents of American Political thought, Civil Disobedience eloquently states a position that has influenced the thinking of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and many figures of the 1960's protests against the Vietnam War. Thoreau argues that the progress from an absolute to a limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, is a progress toward a true respect for the individual. There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.

One of the most important documents of American Political thought, Civil Disobedience eloquently states a position that has influenced the thinking of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and many figures of the 1960's protests against the Vietnam War. Thoreau argues that the progress from an absolute to a limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, is a progress toward a true respect for the individual. There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.

I heartily accept the motto, “That government is best which governs least”; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe—”That government is best which governs not at all”; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which the will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure.

I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe-"That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient.

- Henry David Thoreau




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