Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, abolitionist, speaker, author, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York, gaining note for his oratory and incisive antislavery writings. Northerners at the time found it hard to believe that such a great orator had once been a slave His oratorical and literary brilliance thrust him into the forefront of the U.S. abolition movement, and he became the first black citizen to hold high rank in the U.S. government. Douglass was a firm believer in the equality of all peoples, whether black, female, Native American or recent immigrant. He was also a believer in dialogue and in making alliances across racial and ideological divides, and in the liberal values of the U.S. Constitution. May his quotes inspire you to take action so that you may live your dreams.
1. “When men sow the wind it is rational to expect that they will reap the whirlwind.” Frederick Douglass
2. “Right is of no sex, Truth is of no color, God is the Father of us all, and we are all Brethren.” Frederick Douglass
3. “Man’s greatness consists in his ability to do and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done.” Frederick Douglass
4. “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
5. “Nothing valuable shall be obtained without labor and agony.” Frederick Douglass
6. “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” Frederick Douglass
7. “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” Frederick Douglass
8. “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.” Frederick Douglass
9. “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
10. “Our destiny is largely in our hands.” Frederick Douglass
11. “Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.” Frederick Douglass
12. “The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” Frederick Douglass
13. “A man is worked upon by what he works on. He may carve out his circumstances, but his circumstances will carve him out as well.” Frederick Douglass
14. “Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.” Frederick Douglass
15. “The man who is right is a majority. He who has God and conscience on his side, has a majority against the universe.” Frederick Douglass
16. “Without a struggle, there can be no progress.” Frederick Douglass
17. “A smile or a tear has not nationality; joy and sorrow speak alike to all nations, and they, above all the confusion of tongues, proclaim the brotherhood of man.” Frederick Douglass
18. “The destiny of the colored America is the destiny of America.” Frederick Douglass
19. “People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.” Frederick Douglass
20. “The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.” Frederick Douglass
21. “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
22. “A man who will enslave his own blood, may not be safely relied on for magnanimity.” Frederick Douglass
23. “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
24. “A gentleman will not insult me, and no man, not a gentleman can insult me.” Frederick Douglass
25. “The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion.” Frederick Douglass
26. “Some know the value of education by having it. I know its value by not having it.” Frederick Douglass
27. “Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as to work.” Frederick Douglass
28. “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
29. “We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future.” Frederick Douglass
30. “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
31. “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” Frederick Douglass
32. “I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted.” Frederick Douglass
33. “There is not a man beneath the canopy of Heaven who does not know that slavery is wrong for him.” Frederick Douglass
34. “The white man’s happiness cannot be purchased by the black man’s misery.” Frederick Douglass
35. “Freedom is a road seldom traveled by the multitude.” Frederick Douglass
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