ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -“The rich man is always sold to the institution which makes him rich.” “Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice.” “Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator?

Detailed explanation-2: -“Unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government.” “He who gives himself entirely to his fellow-men appears to them useless and selfish; but he who gives himself partially to them is pronounced a benefactor and philanthropist.”

Detailed explanation-3: -But I retained the landscape…” (Thoreau 408). “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist…. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind…. consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines” (Emerson 394).

Detailed explanation-4: -In Civil Disobedience, Thoreau’s basic premise is that a higher law than civil law demands the obedience of the individual. Human law and government are subordinate. In cases where the two are at odds with one another, the individual must follow his conscience and, if necessary, disregard human law.