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 DOUGLASSFreedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever.
More Frederick Douglass Quotes
-
-
Fortune may crowd a man’s life with fortunate circumstances and happy opportunities, but they will, as we all know, avail him nothing unless he makes a wise and vigorous use of them.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
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 -
Our community belongs to us and whether it is mean or majestic, whether arrayed in glory or covered in shame, we cannot but share its character and destiny.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
A woman should have every honorable motive to exertion which is enjoyed by man, to the full extent of her capacities and endowments.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
What I ask for the Negro is not benevolence, not pity, not sympathy, but simply justice.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
A smile or a tear has no nationality; joy and sorrow speak alike to all nations, and they, above all the confusion of tongues, proclaim the brotherhood of man.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
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 -
Neither we, nor any other people, will ever be respected till we respect ourselves and we will never respect ourselves till we have the means to live respectfully.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
He who would be free must strike the first blow.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
A slave is someone who sits down, and waits for someone to free them.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
Be not discouraged. There is a future for you. The resistance encountered now predicates hope.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
Right is of no sex, Truth is of no color, God is the Father of us all, and we are all Brethren.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
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 -
Poverty, ignorance and degradation are the combined evils, these constitute the social disease of the free colored people of the US.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
Every one of us should be ashamed to be free while his brother is a slave.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
What is possible for me is possible for you.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
A man is worked on by what he works on.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS -
Some know the value of education by having it. I knew its value by not having it.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS