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Oscar Wilde And Disobedience

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An object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. Newton’s first law of motion identifies what is needed to produce change. Oscar Wilde shared similar observations when he said, “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” Both Newton and Wilde recognized how force was essential in order to successfully achieve change. Although Wilde was an influential leader in the late 1800s, his ideas are still applicable to today’s world just like Newton’s laws of motion. The force of disobedience and rebellion has followed Wilde’s claim by historically altering the world and continuing to serve as a powerful platform for change. For centuries, disobedience has served as a method for people to gain support and momentum for their cause. In the late 1700s, a group of men known as the Sons of Liberty were upset by the fact that the British government was heavily taxing the colonies without giving them more power in the central government. The Sons of Liberty came together and chose to protest against the British government by dumping loads of tea off of British ships into the Boston Harbor. Bringing attention to the idea of “taxation without representation,” the uprising encouraged others to stand up and support the impending change. The event also set the stage for a

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