is not an absolute power but rather a helpful tool It should help people live well and do the right thing But when it supports injustice it loses its moral worth He writes That government is best which governs least He believes that the best government is the one that interferes the least and trusts people to act through their conscience Conscience above Law There is a saying that Laws are for the people not the people for the laws Thoreau argues that every individual must obey his moral law before obeying the state He says Can there not be a government in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong but conscience For him conscience is higher than civil law because majorities often act for interest not for truth Therefore the individual must follow what he believes is right even if it means going against the law or the crowd Man before Subject Thoreau makes a clear difference between being a man and being a subject A man follows truth and justice but a subject follows order and law He says I think that we should be men first and subjects afterward Through this statement Thoreau asserts that personal morality is more important than political duty He believes that when the government becomes unjust every true man must rise above it and act according to his conscience Passive Resistance Thoreau shows that the best way to resist injustice is through peaceful non-cooperation The individual must refuse to support the wrong acts of the state He says Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine Here machine means the system of injustice run by the government By refusing to pay taxes or perform public service a person can peacefully resist the wrong This moral act renders the government powerless in the face of the truth Freedom of the Individual Thoreau believes that man is born free and must live freely He writes I was not born to be forced I will breathe after my own fashion He thinks that government power is only physical but the power of conscience is spiritual and stronger A government can control the body but not the soul True freedom lies in the moral strength of the individual who lives by truth and justice not by command In summary Thoreau s Civil Disobedience shows that the government and the individual must never stand above conscience The government s duty is to protect justice not to suppress it The individual s duty is to obey moral law and reject evil Thoreau dreams of a state that respects each person s conscience and liberty His message still teaches mankind that true freedom begins with the courage of one honest soul