A common and natural result of an undue respect for the law is, that you may see a file of soldiers, colonel, captain... 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... 

They have no doubt that it is a damnable business in which they are concerned; they are all peaceably inclined. Now, what are they? Men at all? or small movable forts and magazines, at the service of some unscrupulous man in power? ...a mere shadow and reminiscence of humanity, [men] laid out alive and standing, and already...buried under arms with funeral accompaniment... Others--as most legislators, politicians...serve the state chiefly with their heads... and... are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God. A very few--as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers... serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it...

I quarrel not with far-off foes, but with those who, neat at home, co-operate with, and do the bidding of, those far away, and without whom the latter would be harmless...There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the [Mexican] war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say that they know not what to do, and do nothing; who even postpone the question of freedom to the question of free trade, and quietly read ... the latest advices from Mexico [or Iraq], after dinner, and, it may be, fall asleep over them both... 

They hesitate, and they regret, and sometimes they petition; but they do nothing in earnest and with effect. They will wait... for others to remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to regret. At most, they give up only a cheap vote... It is not a man's duty... to devote himself to the eradication of any, even to most enormous, wrong; ... but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and... not to give it practically his support. If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see... that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man's shoulders. I must get off him first, that he may pursue his contemplations too. I have heard some of my townsmen say, "I should like to have them order me out to help put down an insurrection of the slaves, or to march to Mexico--see if I would go"; and yet these very men have each, directly by their allegiance, and so indirectly, at least, by their money, furnished a substitute. The soldier is applauded who refuses to serve in an unjust war by those who do not refuse to sustain the unjust government which makes the war...

Those who, while they disapprove of the character and measures of a government, yield to it their allegiance and support are undoubtedly its most conscientious supporters, and so frequently the most serious obstacles to reform... What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn... I do not hesitate to say, that those who call themselves Abolitionists should at once effectually withdraw their support, both in person and property, from the government of Massachusetts, and not wait till they constitute a majority of one...

I think that it is enough if they have God on their side, without waiting for that other one... I meet this American government, or its representative, the State government, directly, and face to face, once a year--no more--in the person of its tax-gatherer...and it then says distinctly, Recognize me; and the simplest, the most effectual...mode of treating with it on this head, of expressing your little satisfaction with and love for it, is to deny it then... I know this well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men whom I could name--if ten honest men only--ay, if one HONEST man, in this State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this co-partnership, and be locked up in the county jail therefore, it would be the abolition of slavery in America.

For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done forever. But we love better to talk about it... Under a government which imprisons unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison. The proper place today, the only place which Massachusetts has provided for her freer and less despondent spirits, is in her prisons... on that separate but more free and honorable ground, where the State places those who are not with her, but against her--the only house in a slave State in which a free man can abide with honor...

If a thousand men were not to pay their tax bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible. When I converse with the freest of my neighbors, I perceive that, whatever they may say about the magnitude and seriousness of the question... the long and the short of the matter is, that... they dread the consequences to their property and families of disobedience to it...

When I came out of prison... I saw to what extent the people among whom I lived could be trusted as good neighbors and friends; that their friendship was for summer weather only; that they did not greatly propose to do right... that in their sacrifices to humanity they ran no risks, not even to their property; that after all they were not so noble...and hoped, by a certain outward observance and a few prayers, and by walking in a particular straight though useless path from time to time, to save their souls... I do not care to trace the course of my dollar, if I could, till it buys a man a musket to shoot one with--the dollar is innocent--but I am concerned to trace the effects of my allegiance...

If I could convince myself that I have any right to be satisfied with men as they are...like a good Mussulman (sic) and fatalist, I should endeavor to be satisfied with things as they are, and say it is the will of God.