“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.”

I know of no rights of race superior to the rights of humanity.

The man who is right is a majority. He who has God and conscience on his side, has a majority against the universe.

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.

If there is no struggle, there is no progress.

Liberty for all; chains for none.

Without a struggle, there can be no progress.

I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted.

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.

Be not discouraged. There is a future for you. The resistance encountered now predicates hope.

The District of Columbia is the one spot where there is no government for the people, of the people and by the people.

Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever.

A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me.

Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.

The simplest truths often meet the sternest resistance and are slowest in getting general acceptance.

The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.

The opposite of compromise is character.