Frederick Douglass Quotes


I prayed for freedom for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs. Frederick Douglass Atheism 190
The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion. Frederick Douglass Causes 185
It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. Frederick Douglass Nature 150
Who would be free themselves must strike the blow. Better even to die free than to live slaves. Frederick Douglass Racism 141
I am a Republican, a black, dyed in the wool Republican, and I never intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress. Frederick Douglass 122
No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck. Frederick Douglass Ankle 119
We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future. Frederick Douglass Past 118
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. Frederick Douglass Men 116
When men sow the wind it is rational to expect that they will reap the whirlwind. Frederick Douglass Expect 113
Fugitive slaves were rare then, and as a fugitive slave lecturer, I had the advantage of being the first one out. Frederick Douglass Advantage 113
A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me. Frederick Douglass Gentlemen 108
The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous. Frederick Douglass Life 103
I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence. Frederick Douglass Self 89
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. Frederick Douglass Men 80
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Frederick Douglass Power 73
A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people. Frederick Douglass Calamity 72
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Frederick Douglass Change 71
A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as observation, to appreciate it. Frederick Douglass Appreciate 69
America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Frederick Douglass America 67
Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as to work. Frederick Douglass Expected 64
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them. Frederick Douglass Exact 63
Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave. Frederick Douglass Human rights 61
I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs. Frederick Douglass Religion 61
At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Frederick Douglass Time 57
People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get. Frederick Douglass Work 57
Power concedes nothing without a demand. Frederick Douglass Politics 51
I recognize the Republican party as the sheet anchor of the colored mans political hopes and the ark of his safety. Frederick Douglass 46
Once you learn to read, you will be forever free Frederick Douglass Reading 45
Without a struggle, there can be no progress. Frederick Douglass Progress 44
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose. Frederick Douglass Endurance 43
Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. Frederick Douglass Society 43
Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart and he is relieved by them only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears. Frederick Douglass Slavery 42
Man does not fail to plan he just fails to plan. Frederick Douglass Planning 38
The soul that is within me no man can degrade. Frederick Douglass Self 37
It was deemed a disgrace not to get drunk at Christmas; and he was regarded as lazy indeed, who had not provided himself with the necessary means, during the year, to get whisky enough to last him through Christmas. Frederick Douglass Christmas 36
To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker. Frederick Douglass Uncategorized 35
I could, as a free man, look across the bay toward the Eastern Shore where I was born a slave. Frederick Douglass Uncategorized 35
What to the Slave is the 4th of July. Frederick Douglass Uncategorized 35
Immense wealth and its lavish expenditure fill the great house with all that can please the eye or tempt the taste. Here appetite not food is the great desideratum. Frederick Douglass Greed 35

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Frederick Douglass Quotes

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