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 DOUGLASSIt 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 DOUGLASSI 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 DOUGLASSI would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.
FREDERICK DOUGLASSIf I have advocated the cause of the Negro, it is not because I am a Negro, but because I am a man.
FREDERICK DOUGLASSTo make a contented slave it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken the moral and mental vision and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason.
FREDERICK DOUGLASSAt a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed.
FREDERICK DOUGLASSYou are not judged by the height you have risen, but from the depth you have climbed.
FREDERICK DOUGLASSFortune 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 DOUGLASSThe man who will get up will be helped up; and the man who will not get up will be allowed to stay down.
FREDERICK DOUGLASSMan’s greatness consists in his ability to do and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done.
FREDERICK DOUGLASSI 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 DOUGLASSA 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 DOUGLASSThe man who is right is a majority. He who has God and conscience on his side, has a majority against the universe.
FREDERICK DOUGLASSA 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 DOUGLASSWe may explain success mainly by one word and that word is work.
FREDERICK DOUGLASSI didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS