Henry David Thoreau:

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.

— Henry David Thoreau Modern

Civil disobedience, Walden

Context

Civil Disobedience

Date / Period

1849

Source

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/71/71-h/71-h.htm

Verification

Unverifiable

Explanation

Found in 1 providers: grok

Method

Cross Reference

Sources Checked

1 source

More from Henry David Thoreau

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."

Strange & Unusual

"I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes."

Strange & Unusual

"The best thing a man can do for his culture when he is rich is to endeavor to carry out those schemes which he entertained when he was poor."

Strange & Unusual

"I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one's self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will but live simply and wisely; as the pursuits of the simpler nations a…"

Strange & Unusual

"That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest."

Strange & Unusual

View all sayings from Henry David Thoreau