"If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the
machine of government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear
smooth--certainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has a
spring, or a pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself,
then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse
than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to
be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law. Let
your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine. What I have to do
is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong, which
I condemn." -- Henry David Thoreau (b. 1817-07-12, d. 1862-05-06),
"Civil Disobedience", 1849
(
thanks to
bunnyjadwiga
for the reminder)