"It's the beauty within us that makes it possible for us to recognize the beauty around us. The question is not what you look at but what you see."
"It is for no particular item in the tax-bill that I refuse to pay it. I simply wish to refuse allegiance to the State, to withdrawand stand aloof from it effectually. I do not care to trace the course of my dollar, if I could, till it buys a man or a musket to shoot one with,--the dollar is innocent,--but I am concerned to trace the effects of my allegiance. In fact, I quietly declare war with the State, after my fashion, though I will still make what use and get what advantage of her I can, as is usual in such cases."
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Source: Henry David Thoreau (2014). “Miscellanies (Annotated Edition)”, p.94, Jazzybee Verlag
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