In his essay "Civil Disobedience", Henry David Thoreau writes, "Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?" (Thoreau). ... An act of civil disobedience must also be motivated by morality. ... In history, however, civil disobedience has played an enormous role in the evolution of society. ... Therefore it is imperative that we know the definition and purpose of civil disobedience, what constitutes civil disobedience, and the changes that it can bring about - and of course, ...

• Word Count: 1527
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Virtues on Self Government Born in Concord, Massachusetts, the popular Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau lived a very simple life which led him to his popular essay "On Civil Disobedience." Thoreau lived a very unique life and he based his writings on many of his fufullling principles. ... Thoreau's concept of "Government is best which governs the least"(CD 35). ... Those statements made by Thoreau in 1894 still holds true in 2003. ... Thoreau's "Declaration of the Independence for the Conscious," reflects his belief in using nonviolent but complete resistance to an unjust g...

• Word Count: 399
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Thinkers Emerson and Thoreau were two critical thinkers who valued nature as a big part of their life. ... For this reason, Emerson and Thoreau argue that solitude and society are the most focused topic in their works because of Solitude's ability to give you more freedom instead of living under the rights of unjust laws and Society exploiting you to opportunities with education and grammar. Thoreau argues that living in solitude gives you more freedom instead of living under rights of unjust laws. ... Thoreau says, "Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we e...

• Word Count: 704
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In this paper I am chiefly going to discuss and criticize the ideas of Emma Goldman , Daniel Burton, and Henry Thoreau about what anarchism is, why people in general, and these philosophers in particular criticize governments, and which are their solution for improving the situation, would anarchism really solve the problems or make the situation even more difficult, and what anarchists promoters fail to explain. ... On the other hand Burton favored civil disobedience, and according to him the best way is not to vote at all, and not to pay taxes. ... But, in my opinion, Henry Thoreau gives t...

• Word Count: 2278
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate