Thoreau endorses the principle that government should exercise as little power as is necessary. The statement reflects his suspicion of political institutions that interfere excessively in individual life, and his preference for personal responsibility, conscience and self-government over routine dependence on state authority.

Within Resistance to Civil Government, however, the remark is only the starting point of a broader argument. Thoreau goes on to consider whether government might eventually become unnecessary when individuals are prepared to govern themselves according to justice. His immediate concern is not simply administrative efficiency or lower taxation, but the moral relationship between the individual and the state. The quote therefore expresses a theory of limited government in which political institutions are justified only to the extent that they respect individual judgement and avoid unnecessary coercion. It introduces Thoreau’s wider challenge to unquestioning obedience and concentrated state power.