Civil Disobedience

by Henry David Thoreau

The soldier is applauded who refuses to serve in an unjust war by those who do not refuse to sustain the unjust government which makes the war;

If a man who has no property refuses but once to earn nine shillings for the State, he is put in prison for a period unlimited by any law that I know, and determined only by the discretion of those who put him there; but if he should steal ninety times nine shillings from the State, he is soon permitted to go at large again.

I quietly declare war with the State, after my fashion, though I will still make use and get what advantages of her I can, as is usual in such cases.