Frederick Douglass Quotes
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The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.
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The soul that is within me no man can degrade.
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Fugitive slaves were rare then, and as a fugitive slave lecturer, I had the advantage of being the first one out.
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Right is of no sex, Truth is of no color, God is the Father of us all, and we are all Brethren.
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I would unite with anybody to do right; and with nobody to do wrong.
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There is not a man beneath the canopy of Heaven who does not know that slavery is wrong for him.
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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.
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That which is inhuman cannot be divine.
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He treated me as a man... He did not let me feel for a moment that there was any difference in the color of our skins.
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If the Republican party shall fail to carry out this purpose, God will raise up another party that will be faithful.
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To 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.
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I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes - a justifier of the most appalling barbarity, - a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds, - and a dark shelter under which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection.
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For colored men the Republican party is the deck, all outside is the sea.
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Man's greatness consists in his ability to do and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done.
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His zeal in the cause of freedom was infinitely superior to mine. Mine was as the taper light, his was as the burning sun. Mine was bounded by time. His stretched away to the silent shores of eternity. I could speak for the slave. John Brown could fight for the slave. I could live for the slave. John Brown could die for the slave.
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Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as to work.
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To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.
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I knew that however bad the Republican party was, the Democratic party was much worse. The elements of which the Republican party was composed gave better ground for the ultimate hope of the success of the colored man's cause than those of the Democratic party.
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I know there is a hope in religion; I know there is faith and I know there is prayer about religion and necessary to it, but God is most glorified when there is peace on earth and good will towards men
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Our faith in him was often taxed and strained to the uttermost, but it never failed…we were at times stunned, grieved, and greatly bewildered; but our hearts believed while they ached and bled.
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Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.
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At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed.
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One and God make a majority.
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I say nothing of father, for he is shrouded in a mystery I have never been able to penetrate. Slavery does away with fathers, as it does away with families. Slavery has no use for either fathers or families, and its laws do not recognize their existence in the social arrangements of the plantation.