Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison... the only house in a slave State in which a free man can abide with honor.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- When a government unjustly imprisons people, a principled person may find that prison is the only place where they can keep their honor.
- In plain terms
- A just man may have to stay in prison to keep his honor when the state is unjust.
- What can you take from it?
- Integrity may require accepting confinement when the system is corrupt.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When is it acceptable to accept imprisonment for principle?
- Can honor be maintained without sacrifice?
Another view
Choosing prison may limit one's ability to effect change outside the system.
More from Henry David Thoreau
Any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one.
Permalink to quote #59 I saw that the State was half-witted, that it was timid as a lone woman with her silver spoons, and that it did not know its friends from its foes, and I lost …
Permalink to quote #61 I came into this world, not chiefly to make this a good place to live in, but to live in it, be it good or bad.
Permalink to quote #58
Related quotes
You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed.
Rush LimbaughRush Limbaugh quote #7 Money with them is nothing but trash when it is to come out of the people. But it is the one great thing for which most of them are striving, and many of them …
Davy CrockettDavy Crockett quote #10 My creed is that public service must be more than doing a job efficiently and honestly. It must be a complete dedication to the people and to the nation with f…
Margaret Chase SmithMargaret Chase Smith quote #1