论公民的不服从 Civil Disobedience（第1页）

论公民的不服从CivilDisobedience

亨利·大卫·梭罗HenryDavidThoreau

亨利·大卫·梭罗（1817—1862），杂文家、诗人、自然主义者、改革家和哲学家。生于马萨诸塞州的康科德，毕业于哈佛大学，曾担任中学校长。1846年7月，梭罗居住在瓦尔登湖边时，当地的警官找到他，让他支付投票税，尽管数年来他已经行使了这项权利，但是梭罗拒绝支付税款。当夜，警官把他关在康科德的监狱里。第二天，梭罗的姨母帮他缴清税款，他便获释了。不过，他表明了他的观点：他不能向一个容许奴隶制存在并且侵略他国（墨西哥）的政府交税。他于1849年发表了下面这篇演说稿，为自己的行为进行辩护。当时，这篇文章没有引起什么反响。但是到了19世纪末，这篇文章却成为公认的经典之作，并赢得国际性的声誉。列夫·托尔斯泰、圣雄甘地、马丁·路德·金等人都对它推崇备至。

&heHole

&hesenewwordsbeforeyoureadthisarticle。

1。systematically[?s?st??m?t?k?l?]adv。有组织地；有计划地；有条不紊地

&[，?n?k'spi:di:?nt]adj。不妥当的；不适当的；不明智的

3。san['s??k??n]n。批准，认可

4。monar?n?ki]n。君主统治，君主制度；君主国

&ilyacceptthemotto，“Thatgoverisbestwhisleast”，andIshouldliketoseeitaorerapidlyaically。Carriedout，itfinallyamountstothis，whichalsoIbelieve，“Thatgoverisbestwhisnotatall”，andaredforit，thatwillbethekiwhichthewillhave。Goverbestbutamostgoversareusually，andallgoverimes，iheobjeswhichhavebeenbroughtagainstastandingarmy，andtheyaremay，aoprevail，mayalsoatlastbebroughtagainstastahestandingarmyisonlyanarmofthestahegoverself，whiodewhichthepeoplehavetoexecutetheirwill，isequallyliabletobeabusedaedbeforethepeopleactthroughit。WitMexiwar，theworkofparativelyafewindividualsusiaastheirtool;fori，thepeoplewouldedtothismeasure。

ThisAmerient—whatisitbutatradition，thougharee，eotransmititselfuerity，buteatlosisihasyandforceofasinglelivingman;flemaohiswill。Itisasortofwoodenguhemselves。Butitisnotthelessnecessaryforthis;forthepeoplemusthavesomeplicatedmaeryorother，asdin，tosatisfythatideaofgoverwhichtheyhave。Goversshowthushowsuccessfullymenbeimposedupon，evehemselves，fortheirownadvaisext，wemustallallow。Yetthisgoverselffurtheredaerprise，butbythealacritywithwhichitgotoutofitsway。Itdoeshetryfree。Itdoes。ItdoeshecharaherentintheAmeripeoplehasdohasbeenaplished;anditwouldhavedomore，ifthegoverhadinitsway。Foverisa，bywhiwouldfaiiheralone;and，ashasbeensaid，whenitismostexpedient，thegoveraloradeaheywerenotmadeofIndianRubber，wetobouacleswhichlegislatorsareuallyputtingintheirway;aojudgethesemenwhollybytheeffectsoftheiradnotpartlybytheiriheywoulddeservetobedpuhosemischieviouspersonswhoputobstrutherailroads。

But，tospeakpractidasa，uhosewhocallthemselvesmen，Iaskfor，notato，butatoergovereverymanmakeknownwhatkiwoulda，andthatwillbeoowardobtainingit。

&hepractiwhy，whenthepowerisohehandsofthepeople，amajorityarepermitted，andfperiodue，toruleisheyaremostlikelytobei，hisseemsfairesttotheminority，butbecausetheyarephysicallythestroagoverinwhichthemajorityruleibebasedonjustiasfarasme。therenotbeagoverinwhichthemajoritiesdonotvirtuallydeciderightandwrong，butwhichmajoritiesdelythosequestionstowhichtheruleofexpediencyisapplicable?Musttheeverforamoment，oridegree，resignhiscetothelegislator?Whyhaseverymana?Ithinkthatweshouldbemenfirst，aerward。Itisocultivatearespectforthelaw，somuchasfht。TheonlyobligationwhichIhavearighttoassumeistodoatahinkright。

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&yofgover，evensuchasIamwillingtosubmitto—forIwillcheerfullyobeythosewhoknowanddobetterthanI，andinmanythihosewhoherknownordosowell—isstillaobestrictlyjust，itmusthavethesandtofthegoverhtovermypersonawhatIcedetoit。Theprogressfromaoalimitedmonaritedmonarocracy，isaprogresstowardatruerespectfortheindividual。Eventheesephilosopherwaswiseenardtheindividualasthebasisoftheempire。Isademocracy，suchasweknowit，thelastimprovementpossibleinotpossibletotakeastepfurthertnizingandtherightsofman?TherewillneverbeareallyfreeaeheStateestheindividualasahigherapower，fromwhichallitsowhorityarederived，ashimagly。Ipleasemyselfwithimaginiwhiaffordtobejusttoallmen，aheindividualwithrespeeighbor;whiwouldnotthinkitihitsownreposeifafewweretolivealooffromit，notmeddlingwithit，norembracedbyit，whofulfilledallthedutiesofneighborsandfellowmen。AStatewhichborethiskindoffruit，aodropoffasfastasitripened，wouldpreparethewayforastillmoreperfedgloriousState，whichIhavealsoimagianywhereseen。