If a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so a man. He chooses the metaphor of
a dying plant
to show readers he is discussing matters of life and death.
What is the main idea of Henry David Thoreau’s quote?
Thoreau went alone into the woods to learn how to live the way his maker intended to live. In this quote from “Walden,” Henry David Thoreau is giving his advice about how to live one’s life. The basic idea of this quote )and the lines that come before it) is
that one must live life to the fullest extent possible
.
What does Henry David Thoreau mean that man must live according to his nature Do you agree with this why or why not?
-This quote from Henry David Thoreau is the epitome of
transcendentalism
: man must live according to his nature. -Thoreau draws a parallel between man and nature, both must rely on their nature in order to be present and survive.
When it’s tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable?
All men recognize the
right of revolution
; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable. But almost all say that such is not the case now. But such was the case, they think, in the Revolution Of ’75.
What does Thoreau mean by any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one already?
When Thoreau says that “any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one already,” he means that
one person can be a moral majority when that person stands for truth and goodness.
What does it mean to be a good citizen according to Thoreau?
According to Thoreau in “Civil Disobedience,” a good citizen is
one who serves the state with his conscience, doing what he believes to be right for the public good
. Soldiers serve the state with their bodies, and legislators serve the state with their minds, but these people usually do only part of their duty.
What should a citizen do about an unjust law?
What should a citizen do about an unjust law? “
If it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of an injustice to another, then, I say, break the law
.” “If one honest man… ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this copartnership…it would be the abolition of slavery in America.”
WHO SAID lives of quiet desperation?
One day, I came across the lines of Transcendentalist
philosopher Henry David Thoreau
. “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation,” he wrote in Walden in 1854.
What are the four necessities of life according to Thoreau?
Thoreau identifies only four necessities:
food, shelter, clothing, and fuel
. Since nature itself does much to provide these, a person willing to accept the basic gifts of nature can live off the land with minimal toil.
What does living so dear mean?
something precious. One example of this can be found in Thoreau’s remark “living is so dear”, meaning that
life is something to be valued and cherished
. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary.
What type of government does Thoreau want?
How does Thoreau define the best possible kind of government? Thoreau envisions the best kind of government as on that does not govern. He supports
laissez-faire (free enterprise, free trade, noninterfering)
.
What is once well done is done forever meaning?
For
it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be
: what is once well done is done forever. Thoreau believed that individuals could be free only if their actions were true to their own beliefs, with or without the support or approval of the community, or of friends and family.
How does it become a man to behave toward this American government to day?
How does it become a man to behave towards the American government today? I answer, that
he cannot without disgrace be associated with it
.
What does Thoreau say about the majority?
1. According to Thoreau, what is the basis of majority rule?
He contends that majority rule is not based on justice or fairness but rather on nothing more than the fact that the majority is physically stronger than the minority.
What are the two government policies Thoreau most objects to?
When writing “Civil Disobedience,” the two government policies Thoreau most objected to were
slavery and the Mexican-American War.
Where there is one there is a majority of one?
Henry David Thoreau
said, “But where there is one, there is a majority of one, and, when the rights of the majority take away from the rights of the one, then the many will themselves suffer.” Today’s “rights” are far more extravagant and far less noble than those he referenced.
