Oddbean

Some weeks ago I was reading Thoreau's "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" aloud at bed-time to my son, who of course does not understand it but appreciates the sound of the words all the same, when I discovered that its famous title was in fact not the original! The original title was significantly more radical: "Resistance to Civil Government." It's quite short, and I would encourage everyone here to read (or re-read) it. It is still tremendously relevant. Re-reading it with the original (un-sanitized) title in mind, it lands even harder. These days, Thoreau would probably get his door kicked in. Here's a free link to the Project Gutenberg copy: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/71/71-h/71-h.htm Share your favorite quotes, after reading.

I used to read Thoreau a few years ago and found it a little pretentious and fake. Did he spend a year in the wood? Not really. His mom was 20 mn away and liked to cook him cookies. Did he really protest the Mexican war and refused to pay taxes for it? Not sure it was effective when rich people in his town paid for him :)

I listened to your interview with Jack Dorsey where you mentioned that you read “big kid” books to your kids at night (like the book mentioned above). I’ve been reading kids books to my kids and they are getting bored of them. I guess it’s time to graduate to the next level! Thanks for the idea.