Thoreau stressed the value of individualism and self-sufficiency throughout his life. In his own life, he engaged in civil disobedience and spent a night in jail for refusing to pay taxes in protest of the Mexican War. This night in jail is supposed to have inspired Thoreau to write Civil Disobedience. Thoreau also believed strongly in living minimally and using only what he called "the simple life". He grew most of his own food and collected many types of wood to heat and light his home. Finally, Thoreau wanted people to live in harmony with nature rather than trying to conquer it. He felt that by destroying nature, we were destroying ourselves. Thoreau's ideas on civil disobedience and living simply before these terms had become popular names would influence other activists such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.