evidence: Henry David Thoreau (12 July 1817 – 6 May 1862) was an American essayist, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, and historian. A leading transcendentalist, Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay Resistance to Civil Government (also known as Civil Disobedience), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state. [...] - This is commonly misattributed because Thoreau wrote it in his journal June 14, 1838, but it was not original. This was a popular aphorism in his day, appearing in several collections of proverbs during his lifetime. Its origin is unknown, but it had appeared in print before his birth. E.g., in Joseph Dennie and Asbury Dickins, The Port Folio, vol.2, no.1 (July 1809), p. 431; and in Felipe Fernandez, Exercises on the rules of construction of the Spanish language, 3rd ed. (1811), p. 228. [...] See also [edit]External links [edit]- Henry D. Thoreau Quotations Page (Thoreau's Life & Writings at the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods - The Thoreau Reader - Online texts at Wikisource: