Question

Select the correct text in the passage.

Which two sentences in this excerpt from "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau support the transcendentalist idea that the individual is more
important than government or society?
This American government-what is it but a tradition, though a recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant
losing some of its integrity? It has not the vitality and force of a single living man; for a single man can bend it to his will. It is a sort of wooden gun to
the people themselves
But a government in which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice, even as far as men understand it. Can there not be a government
in which majorities do not virtually decide night and wrong, but conscience?- in which majorities decide only those questions to which the rule of
expediency is applicable? Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislation? Why has every man a
conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the
right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right. It is truly enough said that a corporation has no
conscience, but a corporation of conscientious men is a corporation with a conscience.
A

Answer 1

The two sentences that support the transcendentalist idea that the individual is more important than government or society are highlighted. Thoreau's argument focuses on the power and conscience of individuals over the government or society.

Step-by-step explanation:

From the excerpt, the two sentences that support the transcendentalist idea that the individual is more important than government or society are:

1. It has not the vitality and force of a single living man; for a single man can bend it to his will. It is a sort of wooden gun to the people themselves.
2. I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.

In these sentences, Thoreau argues that individuals have more power and conscience than the government or society. He highlights the idea that a single person can shape and influence the government, emphasizing the importance of individual agency and ethics.

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