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Meaning
This reads as a political and moral claim about where legitimate power begins. It can be taken to mean that a government earns authority only by recognizing the person as something larger than the state itself. The line lands in debates about civil liberty, especially when someone argues that individual rights should come before institutional control.
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Original Language & Translation
Originally said in English.
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About Henry David Thoreau
American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher
Henry David Thoreau was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. He is closely associated with the transcendentalist movement and is best known for Walden and for his essay "Civil Disobedience". Walden reflects on simple living in natural surroundings. "Civil Disobedience" argues that citizens may resist an unjust state. Thoreau's writing often returns to independence, conscience, and a close attention to nature.
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READ THE SOURCE
Books by Henry David Thoreau
Walden
On living deliberately.