Discussion Question

In "Excerpt from 'Civil Disobedience" Thoreau states that "If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations. I must first see, at least, that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man's shoulders. I must get off him first, that he may pursue his contemplations too" (Paragraph 1). To what extent do you agree with this? What examples can you draw on from your own experience and the world around you where people are ensuring that they are not "sitting upon another man's shoulders?"