Quote#Politics & Power
To speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call…
Quote byHenry David Thoreau · 1817–1862
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Civil Disobedience (1849).
English (original)
To speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.
— Henry David Thoreau
More from Henry David Thoreau
The life that I aspire to live No man proposeth me— No trade upon the street Wears its emblazonry.
Great God, I ask thee for no meaner pelf Than that I may not disappoint myself, That in my action I may soar as high As I can now discern with this clear eye.
I am a parcel of vain strivings tied By a chance bond together, Dangling this way and that, their links Were made so loose and wide, Methinks, For milder weather.
Let us not underrate the value of a fact; it will one day flower in a truth.
But now I see I was not plucked for naught, And after in life's vase Of glass set while I might survive, But by a kind hand brought Alive To a strange place.
My books I'd fain cast off, I cannot read, 'Twixt every page my thoughts go stray at large Down in the meadow, where is richer feed, And will not mind to hit their proper targe.