1 h 3 minAudiobook3 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 1 h 3 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What do you owe a government when obeying it means lending your support to injustice?
In On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau puts conscience before obedience. His refusal to pay a tax brings him to the Concord jail. Behind that refusal stand slavery and the war against Mexico. He asks what one person should do when the state demands support for actions that person knows are wrong.
Thoreau treats government as a tool, not a moral authority. He challenges the idea that a majority must be right simply because it has the strength to rule. His argument moves from what you believe to what you do with your hands, your money, and your name. Holding the right opinion, he insists, is not enough.
What you’ll discover
- Conscience before obedience Consider where your duty to the state ends and your responsibility to yourself begins.
- The limits of majority rule Follow Thoreau as he separates the power to govern from the claim to be right.
- More than an opinion Face his demand that opposition to injustice must reach beyond private beliefs.
- A night in jail See how refusing a tax gives his argument a concrete, personal cost.
- Government under scrutiny Explore his distrust of a state served by people who set their judgment aside.
Who will love it
For readers who care about conscience, protest and the limits of the state, and for anyone who wants the source of ideas later used by reformers.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A government is only a tool
- Majorities can be wrong
- Most people serve the state like machines
- Refuse your support to injustice
- The night in jail and the cost
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 1 h 3 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 3 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Sul dovere della disobbedienza civile in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Sul dovere della disobbedienza civile
by Henry David Thoreau · 1849
From a night in the Concord jail, Thoreau asks what conscience requires when a government does wrong.
ChallengingUnder 2 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
One night in a Concord jail changed how the world thinks about protest. He was angry that his country allowed slavery and fought a war against Mexico.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A government is only a tool
Thoreau agrees with the motto that the best government is the one that governs least. He calls government at best an expedient, a convenient device. It does not keep the country free or educate anyone. He credits the character of the people for what is done.
He does not ask for no government today. He asks for a better one at once. If the state fails the test, it has no claim on your loyalty.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Sul dovere della disobbedienza civile
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Civil Disobedience by Thoreau about?
It argues that a person must not help the state do wrong. Thoreau says conscience matters more than majority rule, and that when laws demand injustice, the right response is to refuse openly and accept the penalty.
Why was Thoreau put in jail?
He was arrested in Concord in July 1846 for not paying a poll tax. He refused because he opposed slavery and the war with Mexico, and he did not want to fund a government that supported them.
Did Thoreau's essay influence Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.?
Yes. Gandhi read and drew on the essay in his campaigns in South Africa and India, and Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that it influenced his thinking about nonviolent protest.
The author
Henry David Thoreau
1817–1862 · American essayist, poet and philosopher
Henry David Thoreau was an American essayist, poet, and philosopher. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1817 and died there in 1862. He lived beside Walden Pond from 1845 to 1847. His writings include Civil Disobedience (1849), Walden (1854), Walking (1862), and Cape Cod (1865), published after his death.
More by Henry David Thoreau
All 4 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
