Civil Disobedience By Thoreau

Philosophers, historians, authors, and politicians have spent centuries pondering the relationship between citizens and their government. It is a question that has as m whatsoever considerations as there ar forms of government and it is rarely answered satis accompanimentorily. A relatively modern theorist, author Henry Thoreau, introduced an idea of service humanness as an individual, rather than a subject, by exhaustively describing the way a citizen should live many of his works. He indirectly supplements the arguments he presents in his essay Civil Disobedience through a comprehensive plectron of adages found in his other works.In articular, the phrases A simple and independent mind does not toil at the bidding of any prince and To be conjure up is to be alive. I have never met a man who is quite awake support many of the arguments in Civil Disobedience because they help to grow the complex ideas Thoreau presents. The phrase A simple and independent mind does not toil at t he bidding of any prince regards the responsibilities of a man to his own consciousnessit is a work that can not be revoked by any form of tyrant.Rather than hinting at a type of anarchy, this statement merely describes each mans duty to performing judge in all his actions. This does not refer to any mans duty to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong he may still properly have other concerns to engage him but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he prepares it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support (681). The term simple does not refer to an underdeveloped sense of morality it describes a state of mind in which the concept of justice is so defined that contradictions cannot exist.To toil, as it is presented in this quotation, means to sacrifice ideals for the sake of conformity or law. The only real power the State holds over any individual is the promise of brute force it never intentionally confronts a ma ns sense, intellectual or moral, but only his body, his senses (687). Therefore, many acts the State requires will be unjustthey can and will force a man to slave for the sake of an ordeal he does not believe in. As Thoreau notes in Civil Disobedience, a wise man will only be useful as a man (678).In essence, Thoreau believes that a man who toils at any opinion institutions bidding simply because it bid him to do so sacrifices his own facilities as a human being. He then becomes nothing more than a man put on a level with wood and earth and stones Commanding no more respect than men of straw, or a lump of dirt (678). another(prenominal) quotation that helps to explicate Thoreaus Civil Disobedience is To be awake is to be alive. I have never yet met a man who was quite awake.In this phrase, Thoreau uses the term awake as an euphemism for being fully aware of ones concept of right and fully in control of ones moral and physical existence. Understandably, people who are consistently a wake, in this sense of the word, are hard to find There are ine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man (680). Also, the fact that Thoreau has never met a man who was quite awake implies that fully conscious individuals have difficulty existing in modern society.In fact, Thoreau believes that no man with a genius for legislation has appeared in America. They are rare in the history of the world (692). Perhaps, by the word awake, and its equation with alive, Thoreau is also referring to the ability to follow up his own mission I came into this world, not chiefly to make this a favourable place to live in, but to live in it, be it good or bad (683). Although this concept is not a particularly unique one, it is well-nigh impossible to fulfill completelybut to fulfill it partially is useless.As a brisk being, one must(prenominal) cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence (684). To truly be alive, one must be consciously satisfi ed with every passing moment. Through his conscientious support of every facet of his philosophy, Thoreau effectively proves his statements regarding citizenship and government. He remains consistent to nearly every idea he presents and therefore surrounds them with a seriousness that cannot be ignored.