Henry David Thoreau：Walden, Excerpt 124

One would think, that a deliberate and practical denial of its authority was the only offence never contemplated by government; else, why has it not assigned its definite, its suitable and proportionate penalty? If a man who has no property refuses but once to earn nine shillings for the State, he is put in prison for a period unlimited by any law that I know, and determined only by the discretion of those who placed him there; but if he should steal ninety times nine shillings from the State, he is soon permitted to go at large again.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/205
Locator：Excerpt 124 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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