People/Henry David Thoreau/Quote

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 on freedom

Civil Disobedience (1849)

Read it in context

Quote and source from Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Share

More from Henry David Thoreau

All 81 quotes from Henry David Thoreau

More about freedom

All 567 quotes about freedom