If the nature of injustice is such that it requires you to become its bearer at the expense of someone else, then, I say, it is better to disobey the law.

Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, first published in 1849 and still astonishing today with its originality, is not merely a denunciatory essay on the abusive exercise of power by those in government who rely on the given – for them – consent of the majority.

Defining man as the ultimate regulator of the state-citizen relationship, Civil Disobedience is primarily a universal declaration of the individual's independence, a stark monument of free thought and crystal-clear reasoning that will continue to inspire for many years those who choose to think and act for themselves.

Henry David Thoreau declared through his writings and his entire way of life the absolute necessity for individuals to live freely and in harmony with their natural environment. He inspired countless writers, thinkers, ecological and political theories, and movements of resistance from the 19th century to the present day.