Thoreau presents individual freedom as something that should not be surrendered simply because an institution claims authority. His statement rejects coercion at a personal level: he insists on living according to his own conscience and judgement rather than accepting control without question.

In the wider argument of Resistance to Civil Government, this idea is connected to Thoreau’s belief that citizens have a moral responsibility to judge the actions of government for themselves. The reference to strength is not merely physical. It sets the individual conscience against the power of the state and asks which can ultimately command a person’s conduct. The passage therefore expresses a central principle of civil disobedience: political authority has limits, particularly when obedience would require someone to act against deeply held moral convictions.