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Today's DiveSeptember 21, 2026

On the Burden of ProofToday's Deep Dive

Henry David Thoreau

Never Too Late for Proof

Work

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

Chapter

Walden: Economy

Never Too Late for ProofPrejudiceSkepticism

Excerpt Preview

It is never too late to give up our prejudices. No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof. What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true to-day may turn out to be falsehood to-morrow, mere smoke of opinion, which some had trusted for a cloud that would sprinkle fertilizing rain on...

- On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

Today's Analysis

Thoreau argues that inherited beliefs and social consensus must be subjected to individual proof, warning that ancient customs often provide no real moral nourishment.

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