The fate of the country does not depend on
how you vote at the polls --
the worst man is as strong as
the best at that game;
it does not depend on what kind of paper
you drop into the ballot-box once a year,
but on what kind of man
you drop from your chamber
into the street every morning.
-- Henry David Thoreau.
(1817-1862) American author.
Source: Slavery in Massachusetts (1854)