"Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau, first published in 1849 and continues to surprise with its originality, is not just a denunciatory essay about the abusive exercise of power by the governing authorities who rely on the given - for them - consent of the majority. Defining man as the ultimate regulator of the state-citizen relationship, Civil Disobedience is primarily a universal declaration of individual independence, a concise monument of free thought and crystalline speech that will inspire for many years to come those who choose to think and act for themselves.