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 right 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.
"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."
The two sentences in the passage 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."
2. "I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward."
The two sentences in this excerpt that support the transcendentalist idea that the individual is more important than government or society are:
1. "For a single man can bend it to his will." This sentence suggests that an individual has the power to influence and shape the government, highlighting the importance of the individual's will and agency.
2. "I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward." This sentence emphasizes the primacy of individual identity and personal values over the role of being a subject or member of society. It suggests that individuals should prioritize their own beliefs and conscience before blindly following the rules and laws imposed by the government.
To identify these sentences, you can look for phrases that highlight the significance of the individual and their ability to exert influence or prioritize personal beliefs over societal norms.