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Henry David Thoreau (view source)
Revision as of 01:19, September 21, 2017
, 01:19, September 21, 2017There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
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 the will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present [[Mexican War|Mexican war]], the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure. [http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/thoreau/civiltext.html]
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 the will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present [[Mexican War|Mexican war]], the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure. [http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/thoreau/civiltext.html]</blockquote>
</blockquote>
From ''Walden''
<blockquote>There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root, and it may be that he who bestows the largest amount of time and money on the needy is doing the most by his mode of life to produce that misery which he strives in vain to relieve.</blockquote>
* Often misquoted as: <blockquote>For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the root.</blockquote>
==References==
{{reflist|1}}
==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Henry_David_Thoreau List of Quotes]
*[http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Henry_David_Thoreau List of Quotes]
*[http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/thoreau/index.html Biography]
*[http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/thoreau/index.html Biography]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thoreau, Henry David}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thoreau, Henry David}}