Collected Poems of Henry Thoreau

Literature & Fiction

Henry Thoreau

History & Criticism

The Johns Hopkins Press

"On the Duty of Civil Disobedience," written by legendary author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau, is widely considered to be one of the top essays of all time. This great classic, which argues that people should not permit governments to over-rule will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. For many, "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" is required reading for various courses and curriculums. And for others who simply enjoy reading timeless pieces of classic literature, this text by Henry David Thoreau is highly recommended. Originally published in 1849 as "Resistance to Civil Government," "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" was written to advocate public resistance to the laws and acts of government that Henry David Thoreau considered to be unjust. The practical application of "Civil Disobedience" was largely ignored until the twentieth century when, at different times, Modanda Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and anti-Vietnam War activists applied Thoreau's principles.

Henry David Thoreau

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Civil Disobedience is one of the most importance works of philosophy ever written. Like all great works of philosophy, it is as relevant today as it has ever been, as it transcends space and time. Don't let the abolitionist nature mislead you: this book is not merely about abolition and slavery. Rather, it is about Man Against the State, individuality, and Thoreau's philosophy of how one man can stand up to government and society, driven by his own convictions of right and wrong, as summarized by the timeless quote "Any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one already". Thoreau's main point is that the best - and many times, the only - method for fighting injustice is through passive disobedience. By refusing to cooperate with the machinery of injustice, the individual can become the friction that stops the machine. Active resistance is bound for failure, as the machine (the State, society, etc.) is too formidable for the individual to fight. But, by refusing to cooperate, justice can be achieved and injustice toppled. If you are looking for a marvelous primer on individuality and the fight for justice, start with this book.

Civil Disobedience

Nature And Walking

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The two best essays by Henry David Thoreau: Walden and Civil Disobedience, which is also known as "Resistance to Civil Government" and "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience." Enjoy Walden by Henry David Thoreau and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau today!

Walden And Civil Disobedience

I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil—to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society. I wish to make an extreme statement, if so I may make an emphatic one, for there are enough champions of civilization: the minister and the school committee and every one of you will take care of that.  I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks—who had a genius, so to speak, for SAUNTERING, which word is beautifully derived "from idle people who roved about the country, in the Middle Ages, and asked charity, under pretense of going a la Sainte Terre," to the Holy Land, till the children exclaimed, "There goes a Sainte-Terrer," a Saunterer, a Holy-Lander. They who never go to the Holy Land in their walks, as they pretend, are indeed mere idlers and vagabonds; but they who do go there are saunterers in the good sense, such as I mean. Some, however, would derive the word from sans terre without land or a home, which, therefore, in the good sense, will mean, having no particular home, but equally at home everywhere. For this is the secret of successful sauntering. He who sits still in a house all the time may be the greatest vagrant of all; but the saunterer, in the good sense, is no more vagrant than the meandering river, which is all the while sedulously seeking the shortest course to the sea. But I prefer the first, which, indeed, is the most probable derivation. For every walk is a sort of crusade, preached by some Peter the Hermit in us, to go forth and reconquer this Holy Land from the hands of the Infidels.

Walking

Walden is a book written by Henry David Thoreau, a reflection upon simple living in nature. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and manual for self-reliance. By immersing himself in nature, Thoreau hoped to gain a more objective understanding of society through personal introspection. Simple living and self-sufficiency were Thoreau's other goals, and the whole project was inspired by transcendentalist philosophy.  Civil Disobedience is an essay by Thoreau. In it, Thoreau argues that individuals should not permit governments to make them agents of injustice. Thoreau was motivated in part by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican–American War.

Walden And Of Civil Disobedience

Excursions : (henry David Thoreau Masterpiece Collection)

A Classic EssayAutumnal TintsHenry David Thoreau1862Europeans coming to America are surprised by the brilliancy of our autumnal foliage. There is no account of such a phenomenon in English poetry, because the trees acquire but few bright colors there. The most that Thomson says on this subject in his "Autumn" is contained in the lines,—"But see the fading many-colored woods,Shade deepening over shade, the country roundImbrown; a crowded umbrage, dusk and dun,Of every hue, from wan declining green to sooty dark"Henry David Thoreau (see name pronunciation; July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American author, poet, philosopher, polymath, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, and historian. A leading transcendentalist, Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay Resistance to Civil Government (also known as Civil Disobedience), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state.Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions are his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern-day environmentalism. His literary style interweaves close natural observation, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore, while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity, and "Yankee" love of practical detail. He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay; at the same time he advocated abandoning waste and illusion in order to discover life's true essential needs.

Autumnal Tints

"[...]gentlemen, teaches a doctrine the exact reverse of this, and that doctrine we shall try to refute.   Returning from the North, we procured in New York a copy of Aristotle's "Politics and Economics." To our surprise, we found that our theory of the origin of society was identical with his, and that we had employed not only the same illustrations, but the very same words. We saw at once that the true vindication of slavery must be founded on his theory of man's social nature, as opposed to Locke's theory of the Social Contract, on which latter[...]".

Canoeing In The Wilderness

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Books by Henry Thoreau