11 Quotes by Henry David Thoreau about war
- Author Henry David Thoreau
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There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say that they know not what to do, and do nothing....
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- Author Henry David Thoreau
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A common and natural result of an undue respect of law is, that you may see a file of soldiers, colonel, captain, corporal, privates, powder-monkeys, and all, marching in admirable order over hill and dale to the wars, against their wills, ay, against their common sense and consciences, which makes it very steep marching indeed, and produces a palpitation of the heart.
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- Author Henry David Thoreau
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Only the defeated and deserters go to war.
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- Author Henry David Thoreau
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Undoubtedly, in the most brilliant successes, the first rank is always sacrificed.
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- Author Henry David Thoreau
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I have no doubt that they lived pretty much the same sort of life in the Homeric age, for men have always thought more of eating than of fighting; then, as now, their minds ran chiefly on the "hot bread and sweet cakes;" and the fur and lumber trade is an old story to Asia and Europe.
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- Author Henry David Thoreau
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I have a deep sympathy with war; it so apes the gait and bearing of the soul.
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- Author Henry David Thoreau
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It is impossible to give a soldier a good education without making him a deserter. His natural foe is the government that drills him.
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- Author Henry David Thoreau
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The savage in man is never quite eradicated.
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- Author Henry David Thoreau
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In 1848, Thoreau went to jail for refusing, as a protest against the Mexican war, to pay his poll tax. When RW Emerson came to bail him out, Emerson said, 'Henry, what are you doing in there?' Thoreau quietly replied, 'Ralph, what are you doing out there?'
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