Can someone explain to me the quote by Thoreau:?

Question

Can someone please explain to me this quote by Thoreau, and how one might, in good conscience, follow THoreau's suggestion?


" It is not a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong, he may still properly have other concerns to engage him, but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and if he gives it no thought longer, not give it practically his support"

Answer 1

Man has no obligation to right any wrongs. He can simply ignore them and go about his normal business. However he/she should not do something that supports or contributes to the wrong or evil.

For example:

You may not be able to do anything about terrorism but you are obligated to not contribute to it.

Answer 2

To me it means that a man may have important personal things to do that need his attention more than the enormous wrong, like getting food for his children or caring for a sick family member, in which case he is justified in ignoring the enormous wrong. There are probably a lot of cases where a seemingly smaller matter requires the attention of a particular person, and the enormous wrong should be left to others more qualified and more able.

Answer 3

Seems to me he is saying that whilst we as individuals are busy with our own lives and are powerless to change major problems, like drug peddling and drug abuse for instance. We may be busy and not think about the problem all the time but we can make sure that we do not contribute to the problem by not giving it any support at all. So even in our conversation we would not joke about these important matters because by so doing it would show that in a way we condone them.

Answer 4

Essentially means that you can't right the wrongs in the world but you do have a duty not to support them in any manner

Answer 5

you must oppose wrong, or at least not help it.

Answer 6

it is the sound of one hand clapping