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What Is Possible For Me Is Possible For You.
-Frederick Douglass
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What Is Possible For

Frederick Douglass
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What Is Possible For Me Is Possible For You.

Understanding the Quote: "what is possible for me is possible for you...."

This quote by Frederick Douglass reflects deeply on the theme of black history. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Black History, Liberty, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Frederick Douglass interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass is celebrated for insightful thoughts on black history and liberty. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Black History
Liberty
More From Frederick Douglass
I Am Not Included Within The Pale Of This Glorious Anniversary! Your High Independence Only Reveals The Immeasurable Distance Between Us. The Blessings In Which You, This Day, Rejoice, Are Not Enjoyed In Common. The Rich Inheritance Of Justice, Liberty, Prosperity And Independence, Bequeathed By Your Fathers, Is Shared By You, Not By Me. The Sunlight That Brought Life And Healing To You, Has Brought Stripes And Death To Me. This Fourth July Is Yours, Not Mine.
Father
Distance
Healing
It's A Poor Rule That Won't Work Both Ways.
Equality
Way
Poor
No, I Make No Pretension To Patriotism. So Long As My Voice Can Be Heard On This Or The Other Side Of The Atlantic, I Will Hold Up America To The Lightning Scorn Of Moral Indignation. In Doing This, I Shall Feel Myself Discharging The Duty Of A True Patriot; For He Is A Lover Of His Country Who Rebukes And Does Not Excuse Its Sins.
Country
Voice
America
...there Are At The Present Moment Many Colored Men In The Confederate Army...as Real Soldiers, Having Muskets On Their Shoulders, And Bullets In Their Pockets, Ready To Shoot Down Loyal Troops, And Do All That Soldiers May Do To Destroy The Federal Government...there Were Such Soldiers At Manassas And They Are Probably There Still.
Real
War
Army
I Have Observed This In My Experience Of Slavery, That Whenever My Condition Was Improved, Instead Of Increasing My Contentment; It Only Increased My Desire To Be Free, And Set Me Thinking Of Plans To Gain My Freedom.
Inspirational
Thinking
Black History
The Soul That Is Within Me No Man Can Degrade.
Life
Being Yourself
Men
A Man's Character Always Takes Its Hue, More Or Less, From The Form And Color Of Things About Him.
Character
Men
Color
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.
Freedom
Party
Black
Your National Greatness, Swelling Vanity; Your Denunciation Of Tyrants, Brass-fronted Impudence; Your Shouts Of Liberty And Equality, Hollow Mockery; Your Prayers And Hymns, Your Sermons And Thanksgivings, With All Your Religious Parade And Solemnity, Are, To Him, Mere Bombast, Fraud, Deception, Impiety, And Hypocrisy-a Thin Veil To Cover Up Crimes Which Would Disgrace A Nation Of Savages.
Religious
Prayer
Greatness
Slaves Are Generally Expected To Sing As Well As To Work.
Literature
Slavery
Politics
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.
Respect
Mean
People
Without A Struggle, There Can Be No Progress.
Inspirational
Motivational
Freedom
In The Struggle For Justice, The Only Reward Is The Opportunity To Be In The Struggle. You Can't Expect That You're Going To Have It Tomorrow. You Just Have To Keep Working On It.
Struggle
Opportunity
Justice
I Glory In The Conflict, That I May Hereafter Exult In The Victory. I Know That Victory Is Certain.
Victory
May
Conflict
...i Recognize The Widest Possible Difference-so Wide, That To Receive The One As Good, Pure, And Holy, Is Of Necessity To Reject The Other As Bad, Corrupt, And Wicked. To Be The Friend Of One, Is Of Necessity To Be The Enemy Of The Other.
Differences
Enemy
Wicked
[...] Allowing Only Ordinary Ability And Opportunity, We May Explain Success Mainly By One Word And That Word Is Work! Work!! Work!!! Work!!!! Not Transient And Fitful Effort, But Patient, Enduring, Honest, Unremitting And Indefatigable Work Into Which The Whole Heart Is Put[...] There Is No Royal Road To Perfection.
Heart
Opportunity
Perfection
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.
Respect
Fear
Integrity
These Were Choice Documents To Me... They Gave Tongue To Interesting Thoughts Of My Own Soul, Which Had Frequently Flashed Through My Mind, And Died Away For Want Of Utterance.
Interesting
Choices
Soul
The Law On The Side Of Freedom Is Of Great Advantage Only When There Is Power To Make That Law Respected.
Law
Sides
Advantage
[...] Endless Action And Reaction. Those Beautifully Rounded Pebbles Which You Gather On The Sand And Which You Hold In Your Hand And Marvel At Their Exceeding Smoothness, Were Chiseled Into Their Varies And Graceful Forms By The Ceaseless Action Of Countless Waves. Nature Is Herself A Great Worker And Never Tolerates, Without Certain Rebuke, Any Contradiction To Her Wise Example. Inaction Is Followed By Stagnation. Stagnation Is Followed By Pestilence And Pestilence Is Followed By Death.
Wise
Hands
Example
Man's Greatness Consists In His Ability To Do And The Proper Application Of His Powers To Things Needed To Be Done.
Patriotic
Power
Greatness
Self-made Men Are The Men Who Owe Little Or Nothing To Birth, Relationship, Friendly Surroundings; To Wealth Inherited Or To Early Approved Means Of Education; Who Are What They Are, Without The Aid Of Any Favoring Conditions By Which Other Men Usually Rise In The World And Achieve Great Results.
Mean
Men
Self
Money Is The Measure Of Morality, And The Success Or Failure Of Slavery As A Money-making System, Determines With Many Whether...it Should Be Maintained Or Abolished.
Slavery
Morality
Making Money
I Have No Protection At Home, Or Resting Place Abroad. ... I Am An Outcast From The Society Of My Childhood, And An Outlaw In The Land Of My Birth. I Am A Stranger With Thee, And A Sojourner As All My Fathers Were.
Father
Home
Land
Right Is Of No Sex, Truth Is Of No Color.
Sex
Color
Truth Is
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.
Eye
House
Greed
Once You Read, You Will Be Free Forever.
Forever
Library
The Opposite Of Compromise Is Character.
Character
Opposites
Compromise
If The Negro Knows Enough To Pay Taxes To Support The Government, He Knows Enough To Vote; Taxation And Representation Should Go Together. If He Knows Enough To Shoulder A Musket And Fight For The Flag, Fight For The Government, He Knows Enough To Vote.
Fighting
Government
Support
I Know Of No Rights Of Race Superior To The Rights Of Humanity...
Rights
Race
Humanity
To Suppress Free Speech Is A Double Wrong. It Violates The Rights Of The Hearer As Well As Those Of The Speaker.
Patriotic
Rights
Freedom Of Speech
Now, Take The Constitution According To Its Plain Reading, And I Defy The Presentation Of A Single Pro-slavery Clause In It. On The Other Hand It Will Be Found To Contain Principles And Purposes, Entirely Hostile To The Existence Of Slavery.
Reading
Hands
Principles
We May Explain Success Mainly By One Word And That Word Is Work! Work!! Work!!! Work!!!!
Motivational
Black History
May
Praying For Freedom Never Did Me Any Good Til I Started Praying With My Feet.
Feet
Praying
Be Not Discouraged. There Is A Future For You. . . . The Resistance Encountered Now Predicates Hope. . .
Hope
Future
Resistance
Education Means Emancipation. It Means Light And Liberty. It Means The Uplifting Of The Soul Of Man Into The Glorious Light Of Truth, The Light By Which Men Can Only Be Made Free.
Uplifting
Mean
Men
Power Concedes Nothing Without A Demand. It Never Did And It Never Will.
Freedom
Power
Tyrants
Knowledge Unfits A Child To Be A Slave.
Children
Slave
Be A Slave
There Is A Class Of People Who Seem To Think That If A Man Should Fall Overboard Into The Sea With A Bible In His Pocket It Would Hardly Be Possible To Drown. I Prayed For Twenty Years But Received No Answer Until I Prayed With My Legs.
Fall
Men
Thinking
What I Ask For The Negro Is Not Benevolence, Not Pity, Not Sympathy, But Simply Justice. ... All I Ask Is, Give Him A Chance To Stand On His Own Legs! Let Him Alone! ... Your Interference Is Doing Him Positive Injury.
Giving
Justice
Legs
I Will Unite With Anyone To Do Good, But With No One To Do Harm.
Harm
Viewed From The Genuine Abolition Ground, Mr. Lincoln Seemed Tardy, Cold, Dull, And Indifferent; But Measuring Him By The Sentiment Of His Country, A Sentiment He Was Bound As A Statesman To Consult, He Was Swift, Zealous, Radical, And Determined.
Country
Zealous
Dull
Let Me Give You A Word Of The Philosophy Of Reform. The Whole History Of The Progress Of Human Liberty Shows That All Concessions Yet Made To Her August Claims, Have Been Born Of Earnest Struggle. The Conflict Has Been Exciting, Agitating, All-absorbing, And For The Time Being, Putting All Other Tumults To Silence. It Must Do This Or It Does Nothing. If There Is No Struggle There Is No Progress.
Philosophy
Struggle
August
The Day Dawns; The Morning Star Is Bright Upon The Horizon! The Iron Gate Of Our Prison Stands Half Open. One Gallant Rush From The North Will Fling It Wide Open, While Four Millions Of Our Brothers And Sisters Shall March Out Into Liberty. The Chance Is Now Given You To End In A Day The Bondage Of Centuries, And To Rise In One Bound From Social Degradation To The Place Of Common Equality With All Other Varieties Of Men.
Brother
Morning
Stars
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.
Character
Mean
Destiny
From My Earliest Recollection, I Date The Entertainment Of A Deep Conviction That Slavery Would Not Always Be Able To Hold Me Within Its Foul Embrace; And In The Darkest Hours Of My Career In Slavery, This Living Word Of Faith And Spirit Of Hope Departed Not From Me, But Remained Like Ministering Angels To Cheer Me Through The Gloom. This Good Spirit Was From God, And To Him I Offer Thanksgiving And Praise.
Cheer
Angel
Careers
Those Who Profess To Favor Freedom, And Yet Depreciate Agitation, Are Men Who Want Crops Without Plowing Up The Ground.
Freedom
Patriotic
Men
Once You Learn To Read, You Will Be Forever Free.
Reading
Book
Forever
Our Destiny Is Largely In Our Hands.
Destiny
Hands
Our Destiny
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.
Song
Heart
Sorrow
Go Where You May, Search Where You Will, Roam Through All Of The Monarchies And Despotisms Of The Old World, Travel Through South America, Search Out Every Abuse, And When You Have Found The Last, Lay Your Facts By The Side Of The Everyday Practices Of This Nation, And You Will Say With Me That, For Revolting Barbarity And Shameless Hypocrisy, America Reigns Without A Rival.
Practice
America
Hypocrisy
I Hear The Mournful Wail Of Millions!
Slavery
Millions
Men And Women, Old And Young, Married And Single, Were Ranked With Horses, Sheep, And Swine
Horse
Men
Sheep
I Expose Slavery In This Country, Because To Expose It Is To Kill It. Slavery Is One Of Those Monsters Of Darkness To Whom The Light Of Truth Is Death.
Sad
Country
Depressing
Where Justice Is Denied, Where Poverty Is Enforced, . . . Neither Persons Nor Property Will Be Safe.
Ignorance
Justice
Black History
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.
Patriotic
Reflection
Moral Growth
The Sunlight That Has Brought Life And Healing To You Has Brought Stripes And Death To Me. This Fourth Of July Is Yours, Not Mine.
Healing
July
Justice
We Are Free To Say That In Respect To Political Rights, We Hold Women To Be Justly Entitled To All We Claim For Men.
Men
Rights
Justice
Some Know The Value Of Education By Having It. I Know It's Value By Not Having It.
Value Of Education
Knows
Values
Allow Us The Dignity To Fight For Our Own Freedom
Patriotic
Fighting
Dignity
E Have Men Sold To Build Churches, Women Sold To Support The Gospel, And Babes Sold To Purchase Bibles For The Poor Heathen, All For The Glory Of God And The Good Of Souls. The Slave Auctioneer's Bell And The Church-going Bell Chime In With Each Other, And The Bitter Cries Of The Heart-broken Slave Are Drowned In The Religious Shouts Of His Pious Master. Revivals Of Religion And Revivals In The Slave Trade Go Hand In Hand.
Religious
Heart
Men
This War, Disguise It As They May, Is Virtually Nothing More Or Less Than Perpetual Slavery Against Universal Freedoms.
War
History
Slavery
The Constitution Is A Glorious Liberty Document. Read Its Preamble, Consider It Purposes. Is Slavery Among Them? Is It At The Gateway? Or Is It In The Temple? It Is Neither.
Liberty
Purpose
Slavery
Every One Of Us Should Be Ashamed To Be Free While His Brother Is A Slave.
Brother
Slave
Should
...of Whom I Can Say With A Grateful Heart, 'i Was Hungry, And He Gave Me Meat; I Was Thirsty, And He Gave Me Drink; I Was A Stranger, And He Took Me In.'
Grateful
Heart
Meat
The Limits Of Tyrants Are Prescribed By The Endurance Of Those Whom They Oppose.
Freedom
Democracies Have
Tyrants
Going To Live At Baltimore Laid The Foundation, And Opened The Gateway, To All My Subsequent Prosperity.
Foundation
Baltimore
Prosperity
In Life You Don't Get Everything You Pay For, But You Must Pay For Everything You Get.
Pay
This Fourth Of July Is Yours, Not Mine. You May Rejoice, I Must Mourn.
July
May
Rejoice
I Have Observed This In My Experience Of Slavery, - That Whenever My Condition Was Improved, Instead Of Its Increasing My Contentment, It Only Increased My Desire To Be Free, And Set Me To Thinking Of Plans To Gain My Freedom. I Have Found That, To Make A Contented Slave, It Is Necessary To Make A Thoughtless One. It Is Necessary To Darken His Moral And Mental Vision, And, As Far As Possible, To Annihilate The Power Of Reason. He Must Be Able To Detect No Inconsistencies In Slavery; He Must Be Made To Feel That Slavery Is Right; And He Can Be Brought To That Only When He Ceased To Be A Man.
Men
Thinking
Vision
A Slave Is Someone Who Sits Down, And Waits For Someone To Free Them.
Waiting
Down And
Slave
It Was A Glorious Resurrection, From The Tomb Of Slavery, To The Heaven Of Slavery. My Long-crushed Spirit Rose, Cowardice Departed, Bold Defiance Took Its Place; And I Now Resolved That, However Long I Might Remain A Slave In Form, The Day Had Passed Forever When I Could Be A Slave In Fact.
Long
Rose
Forever
American Labor Rights Activist, On Activities Of The National Farm Workers Association Human Law May Know No Distinction Among Men In Respect Of Rights, But Human Practice May.
Men
Rights
Law
A Man, At Times, Gets Something For Nothing, But It Will, In His Hands, Amount To Nothing.
Men
Hands
Amount
America Is False To The Past, False To The Present, And Solemnly Binds Herself To Be False To The Future.
Past
America
Literature
If We Ever Get Free From All The Oppressions And Wrongs Heaped Upon Us, We Must Pay For Their Removal. We Must Do This By Labor, By Suffering, By Sacrifice, And, If Needs Be, By Our Lives, And The Lives Of Others.
Sacrifice
Suffering
Needs
At A Time Like This, Scorching Irony, Not Convincing Argument, Is Needed.
Irony
Argument
Needed
I Have No Accurate Knowledge Of My Age, Never Having Seen Any Authentic Record Containing It.
Age
Records
Accurate
For It Is Not Light That Is Needed, But Fire; It Is Not The Gentle Shower, But Thunder. We Need The Storm, The Whirlwind, And The Earthquake. The Feeling In The Nation Must Be Quickened, The Conscience Of The Nation Must Be Roused, The Propriety Of The Nation Must Be Startled, The Hypocrisy Of The Nation Must Be Exposed: And Its Crimes Against God And Man Must Be Denounced.
Men
Fire
Light
We Succeed, Not Alone By The Laborious Exertions Of Our Faculties, Be They Small Or Great, But By The Regular, Thoughtful And Systematic Exercise Of Them.
Exercise
Thoughtful
Succeed
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 Mans Cause Than Those Of The Democratic Party.
Party
Elements
Causes
I Do Not Think Much Of The Good Luck Theory Of Self-made Men. It Is Worth But Little Attention And Has No Practical Value.
Good Luck
Men
Thinking
A War Undertaken And Brazenly Carried On For The Perpetual Enslavement Of Colored Men, Calls Logically And Loudly For Colored Men To Help Suppress It.
War
Men
Helping
If There Is No Struggle, There Is No Progress....this Struggle May Be A Moral One; Or It May Be A Physical One; Or It May Be Both Moral And Physical; But It Must Be A Struggle. Power Concedes Nothing Without A Demand. It Never Did And It Never Will.
Struggle
Tyrants
Progress
Without Struggle There Is No Success
Struggle
He Who Is Whipped Oftenest, Is Whipped Easiest.
Strength
Self Respect
Intelligence Is A Great Leveler Here As Elsewhere
Elsewhere
If There Is No Struggle, There Is No Progress.
Inspirational
Change
Moving On
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.
Freedom
4th Of July
Patriotic
The American Constitution Is A Written Instrument Full And Complete In Itself. No Court In America, No Congress, No President, Can Add A Single Word Thereto, Or Take A Single Word Threreto. It Is A Great National Enactment Done By The People, And Can Only Be Altered, Amended, Or Added To By The People.
America
People
President
Viewing The Man From The Genuine Abolitionist Ground, Mr. Lincoln Seemed Cold, Tardy, Weak And Unequal To The Task. But, Viewing Him From The Sentiments Of His People, Which As A Statesman He Was Bound To Respect, Then His Actions Were Swift, Bold, Radical And Decisive. Taking The Man In The Whole, Balancing The Tremendous Magnitude Of The Situation, And The Necessary Means To Ends, Infinite Wisdom Has Rarely Sent A Man Into The World More Perfectly Suited To His Mission Than Abraham Lincoln.
War
Mean
Men
Civil War Was Not A Mere Strife For Territory And Dominion, But A Contest Of Civilization Against Barbarism.
War
Civilization
Territory
To Drag A Man In Fetters Into The Grand Illuminated Temple Of Liberty, And Call Upon Him To Join You In Joyous Anthems, Were Inhuman Mockery And Sacrilegious Irony.
Men
Liberty
Temples
One By One I Have Seen Obstacles Removed, Errors Corrected, Prejudices Softened, Proscriptions Relinquished, And My People Advancing In All The Elements That Go To Make Up The Sum Of The General Welfare. And I Remember That God Reigns In Eternity, And That Whatever Delays, Whatever Disappointments And Discouragements May Come, Truth, Justice, Liberty And Humanity Will Ultimately Prevail.
Disappointment
Errors
People
Mr. Lincoln Was Not Only A Great President, But A Great Man - Too Great To Be Small In Anything. In His Company I Was Never In Any Way Reminded Of My Humble Origin, Or Of My Unpopular Color.
Humble
Men
Color
Liberty Is Meaningless Where The Right To Utter One's Thoughts And Opinions Has Ceased To Exist. That, Of All Rights, Is The Dread Of Tyrants. It Is The Right Which They First Of All Strike Down. They Know Its Power. Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, And Powers, Founded In Injustice And Wrong, Are Sure To Tremble, If Men Are Allowed To Reason... Equally Clear Is The Right To Hear. To Suppress Free Speech Is A Double Wrong. It Violates The Rights Of The Hearer As Well As Those Of The Speaker.
Men
Rights
Tyrants
The Man Who Will Get Up Will Be Helped Up; And The Man Who Will Not Get Up Will Be Allowed To Stay Down.
Men
He Man
Get Up
The Life Of The Nation Is Secure Only While The Nation Is Honest, Truthful, And Virtuous.
Honesty
Integrity
War
I Was Broken In Body, Soul, And Spirit. My Natural Elasticity Was Crushed, My Intellect Languished, The Disposition To Read Departed, The Cheerful Spark That Lingered About My Eye Died; The Dark Night Of Slavery Closed In Upon Me; And Behold A Man Transformed Into A Brute!
Eye
Dark
Night
My Great And Exceeding Joy Over These Stupendous Achievements, Especially Over The Abolition Of Slavery (which Had Been The Deepest Desire And The Great Labor Of My Life), Was Slightly Tinged With A Feeling Of Sadness.
Abolition Of Slavery
Desire
Labor
If There Is No Struggle, There Is No Progress. Those Who Profess To Favor Freedom, And Yet Depreciate Agitation, Are Men Who Want Crops Without Plowing Up The Ground. They Want Rain Without Thunder And Lightning. They Want The Ocean Without The Awful Roar Of Its Many Waters. This Struggle May Be A Moral One; Or It May Be A Physical One; Or It May Be Both Moral And Physical; But It Must Be A Struggle.
Wisdom
Freedom
Rain
Grandmother Pointed Out My Brother Perry, My Sister Sarah, And My Sister Eliza, Who Stood In The Group. I Had Never Seen My Brother Nor My Sisters Before; And, Though I Had Sometimes Heard Of Them, And Felt A Curious Interest In Them, I Really Did Not Understand What They Were To Me, Or I To Them. We Were Brothers And Sisters, But What Of That? Why Should They Be Attached To Me, Or I To Them? Brothers And Sisters Were By Blood; But Slavery Had Made Us Strangers. I Heard The Words Brother And Sisters, And Knew They Must Mean Something; But Slavery Had Robbed These Terms Of Their True Meaning.
Brother
Mean
Grandmother
Though Conscious Of The Difficulty Of Learning Without A Teacher, I Set Out With High Hope, And A Fixed Purpose, At Whatever Cost Of Trouble, To Learn How To Read.
Teacher
Purpose
Cost
One And God Make A Majority.
God
Godly
Majority
A Gentleman Will Not Insult Me, And No Man Not A Gentleman Can Insult Me.
Motivational
Men
Gentleman
The More I Read, The More I Was Led To Abhor And Detest My Enslavers.
Detest
He Who Would Be Free Must Strike The First Blow.
Blow
Would Be
Firsts
In A Composite Nation Like Ours, As Before The Law, There Should Be No Rich, No Poor, No High, No Low, No White, No Black, But Common Country, Common Citizenship, Equal Rights And A Common Destiny.
Country
Destiny
Rights
Men Of Color, To Arms! The Case Is Before You. This Is Our Golden Opportunity. Let Us Accept It, And Forever Wipe Out The Dark Reproaches Unsparingly Hurled Against Us By Our Enemies. Let Us Win For Ourselves The Gratitude Of Our Country, And The Best Blessings Of Our Posterity Through All Time.
Country
Gratitude
War
I Escaped From Slavery And Became A Leading Abolitionist And Speaker.
Slavery
Abolitionist
Speakers
No People To Whom Liberty Is Given Can Hold It As Firmly And Wear It As Grandly As Those Who Wrench Their Liberty From The Iron Hand Of The Tyrant.
Hands
Tyrants
Iron
Despite Of It All, The Negro Remains... Cool, Strong, Imperturbable, And Cheerful.
Strong
Cheerful
Remains
The Silver Trump Of Freedom Roused In My Soul Eternal Wakefulness.
Soul
Silver
Trump
Opportunity Is Important But Exertion Is Indispensable.
Opportunity
Important
Self Made
I Didn't Know I Was A Slave Until I Found Out I Couldn't Do The Things I Wanted.
Slavery
Found
Wanted
This Struggle May Be A Moral One, Or It May Be A Physical One, And It May Be Both Moral And Physical, But It Must Be A Struggle. Power Concedes Nothing Without A Demand. It Never Did And It Never Will. Find Out Just What Any People Will Quietly Submit To And You Have Found Out The Exact Measure Of Injustice And Wrong Which Will Be Imposed Upon Them, And These Will Continue Till They Are Resisted With Either Words Or Blows, Or With Both. The Limits Of Tyrants Are Prescribed By The Endurance Of Those Whom They Oppress.
Struggle
Blow
Tyrants
Power And Those In Control Concede Nothing ... Without A Demand. Hey Never Have And Never Will... Each And Every One Of Us Must Keep Demanding, Must Keep Fighting, Must Keep Thundering, Must Keep Plowing, Must Keep On Keeping Things Struggling, Must Speak Out And Speak Up Until Justice Is Served Because Where There Is No Justice There Is No Peace.
Wisdom
Struggle
Fighting
A Government, Founded On Impartial Liberty, Where All Have A Voice And A Vote, Irrespective Of Color Or Of Sex--what Is There To Hinder Such A Government From Standing Firm.
Sex
Voice
Government
My Hopes Were Never Brighter Than Now.
Brighter
I Recognize The Republican Party As The Sheet Anchor Of The Colored Man's Political Hopes And The Ark Of His Safety.
Party
Men
Anchors
[a] Woman Should Have Every Honorable Motive To Exertion Which Is Enjoyed By Man, To The Full Extent Of Her Capacities And Endowments. The Case Is Too Plain For Argument. Nature Has Given Woman The Same Powers, And Subjected Her To The Same Earth, Breathes The Same Air, Subsists On The Same Food, Physical, Moral, Mental And Spiritual. She Has, Therefore, An Equal Right With Man, In All Efforts To Obtain And Maintain A Perfect Existence.
Spiritual
Men
Air
I Would Unite With Anybody To Do Right And With Nobody To Do Wrong.
Political
I Had As Well Be Killed Running As Die Standing
Running
Wells
Standing
You Are Not Judged By The Height You Have Risen, But From The Depth You Have Climbed.
Justice
Diversity
Depth
In Regard To The Colored People, There Is Always More That Is Benevolent, I Perceive, Than Just, Manifested Towards Us. What I Ask For The Negro Is Not Benevolence, Not Pity, Not Sympathy, But Simply Justice.
People
Justice
Pity
I Have Often Wished Myself A Beast. I Preferred The Condition Of The Meanest Reptile To My Own. Any Thing, No Matter What, To Get Rid Of Thinking! It Was This Everlasting Thinking Of My Condition That Tormented Me. There Was No Getting Rid Of It. It Was Pressed Upon Me By Every Object Within Sight Or Hearing, Animate Or Inanimate.
Thinking
Sight
Reptiles
The Man Who Is Right Is A Majority. He Who Has God And Conscience On His Side, Has A Majority Against The Universe.
Men
Majority
Sides
There Are At The Present Moment Many Colored Men In The Confederate Army Doing Duty Not Only As Cooks, Servants And Laborers , But As Real Soldiers, Having Muskets On Their Shoulders, And Bullets In Their Pockets, Ready To Shoot Down Loyal Troops, And Do All That Soldiers May To Destroy The Federal Government And Build Up That Of The Traitors And Rebels.
Real
War
Army
The Mind Does Not Take Its Complexion From The Skin.
Teaching
Intellectual
Intelligence
The District Of Columbia Is The One Spot Where There Is No Government For The People, Of The People And By The People.
Government
People
Columbia
In One Point Of View, We, The Abolitionists And Colored People, Should Meet [the Dred Scott] Decision, Unlooked For And Monstrous As It Appears, In A Cheerful Spirit. This Very Attempt To Blot Out Forever The Hopes Of An Enslaved People May Be One Necessary Link In The Chain Of Events Preparatory To The Downfall And Complete Overthrow Of The Whole Slave System.
Views
People
Decision
It Is Better To Be Part Of A Great Whole Than To Be The Whole Of A Small Part.
Collaboration
Philanthropy
Small Parts
When Men Sow The Wind It Is Rational To Expect That They Will Reap The Whirlwind.
Men
Wind
Literature
The Destiny Of The Colored American ... Is The Destiny Of America.
Destiny
America
Liberty For All; Chains For None.
Liberty
Chains
Men Are Whipped Oftenest Who Are Whipped Easiest.
Men
Who Would Be Free Themselves Must Strike The Blow. Better Even To Die Free Than To Live Slaves.
Freedom
Blow
Would Be
It Is The Mission Of The Printer To Diffuse Light And Knowledge By A Judicious Intermingling Of Black With White.
White
Light
Black
As Those Who Believe In The Visibility Of Ghosts Can Easily See Them, So It Is Always Easy To See Repulsive Qualities In Those We Despise And Hate.
Hate
Believe
Quality
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.
Vision
Moral
Slave
When A Great Truth Once Gets Abroad In The World, No Power On Earth Can Imprison It, Or Prescribe Its Limits, Or Suppress It. It Is Bound To Go On Till It Becomes The Thought Of The World.
Goes On
World
Earth
Everybody Has Asked The Question . . . 'what Shall We Do With The Negro?' I Have Had But One Answer From The Beginning. Do Nothing With Us! Your Doing With Us Has Already Played The Mischief With Us. Do Nothing With Us!
Answers
Mischief
[john Brown's] Zeal In The Cause Of Freedom Was Infinitely Superior To Mine. Mine Was As The Taper Light, His Was As The Burning Sun... I Could Speak For The Slave. John Brown Could Fight For The Slave.
War
Light
Government
Abolish Slavery Tomorrow, And Not A Sentence Or Syllable Of The Constitution Need Be Altered. It Was Purposely So Framed As To Give No Claim, No Sanction To The Claim, Of Property In Man. If In Its Origin Slavery Had Any Relation To The Government, It Was Only As The Scaffolding To The Magnificent Structure, To Be Removed As Soon As The Building Was Completed.
Men
Giving
Needs
Yet People In General Will Say They Like Colored Men As Well As Any Other, But In Their Proper Place.
Men
People
Wells
The White Man's Happiness Cannot Be Purchased By The Black Man's Misery.
Men
White Man
Misery And Pain
I Prayed For Twenty Years But Received No Answer Until I Prayed With My Legs.
Religious
Atheist
Prayer
The Simplest Truths Often Meet The Sternest Resistance And Are Slowest In Getting General Acceptance.
Truth
Acceptance
Resistance
No Man Can Be Truly Free Whose Liberty Is Dependent Upon The Thought, Feeling And Action Of Others, And Who Has Himself No Means In His Own Hands For Guarding, Protecting, Defending And Maintaining That Liberty
Mean
Men
Hands
A Man's Rights Rest In Three Boxes: The Ballot Box, The Jury Box, And The Cartridge Box.
Men
Gun
Rights
If I Have Advocated The Cause Of The Negro, It Is Not Because I Am A Negro, But Because I Am A Man.
Men
Justice
Diversity
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 Shelter Under…which The Darkest, Foulest, Grossest, And Most Infernal Deeds Of Slaveholders Find The Strongest Protection
Covering
Shelter
Deeds
A Man Who Will Enslave His Own Blood, May Not Be Safely Relied On For Magnamity.
Men
Blood
May
I Could, As A Free Man, Look Across The Bay Toward The Eastern Shore Where I Was Born A Slave.
Patriotic
Men
Looks
Knowledge Makes A Man Unfit To Be A Slave.
Wisdom
Freedom
Men
We Have To Do With The Past Only As We Can Make It Useful To The Present And The Future.
Heartbroken
Letting Go
Meaningful
In This Denial Of The Right To Participate In Government, Not Merely The Degradation Of Woman And The Perpetuation Of A Great Injustice Happens, But The Maiming And Repudiation Of One-half Of The Moral And Intellectual Power Of The Government Of The World.
Government
Intellectual
Denial
I Love The Religion Of Christianity - Which Cometh From Above - Which Is A Pure, Peaceable, Gentle, Easy To Be Entreated, Full Of Good Fruits, And Without Hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy
Fruit
Christianity
Experience Proves That Those Are Oftenest Abused Who Can Be Abused With The Greatest Impunity. Men Are Whipped Oftenest Who Are Whipped Easiest.
Men
Society
Prove
These Dear Souls Came Not To Sabbath School Because It Was Popular To Do So, Nor Did I Teach Them Because It Was Reputable To Be Thus Engaged. Every Moment They Spent In That School, They Were Liable To Be Taken Up, And Given Thirty-nine Lashes. They Came Because They Wished To Learn. Their Minds Had Been Starved By Their Cruel Masters. They Had Been Shut Up In Mental Darkness. I Taught Them, Because It Was The Delight Of My Soul To Be Doing Something That Looked Like The Bettering The Condition Of My Race
Taken
School
Race
Once Let The Black Man Get Upon His Person The Brass Letter, U.s., Let Him Get An Eagle On His Button, And A Musket On His Shoulder And Bullets In His Pocket, There Is No Power On Earth That Can Deny That He Has Earned The Right To Citizenship.
Men
Eagles
Black
Poverty, Ignorance And Degradation Are The Combined Evils, These Constitute The Social Disease Of The Free Colored People Of The Us.
Ignorance
People
Evil
The Silver Trump Of Freedom Had Roused My Soul To Eternal Wakefulness. Freedom Now Appeared, To Disappear No More Forever. It Was Heard In Every Sound, And Seen In Every Thing.
Forever
Soul
Sound
Liberty Is Meaningless Where The Right To Utter One's Thoughts And Opinions Has Ceased To Exist. That, Of All Rights, Is The Dread Of Tyrants. It Is The Right Which They First Of All Strike Down.
Freedom
Rights
Tyrants
The Constitutional Framers Were Peace Men; But They Preferred Revolution To Peaceful Submission To Bondage. They Were Quiet Men; But They Did Not Shrink From Agitating Against Oppression. They Showed Forbearance; But That They Knew Its Limits. They Believed In Order; But Not In The Order Of Tyranny. With Them, Nothing Was "settled" That Was Not Right. With Them, Justice, Liberty And Humanity Were "final;" Not Slavery And Oppression.
Men
Justice
Peaceful
Right Is Of No Sex-truth Is Of No Color-god Is The Father Of Us All, And We Are All Brethren.
Sex
Father
Color
It Is Easier To Build Strong Children Than To Repair Broken Men.
Inspirational
Motivational
Strength
What To The Slave Is The 4th Of July.
4th Of July
Conservative
Slave
Everybody Has Asked The Question, ... 'what Shall We Do With The Negro?' I Have Had But One Answer From The Beginning. Do Nothing With Us! You're Doing With Us Has Already Played The Mischief With Us. Do Nothing With Us! If The Apples Will Not Remain On The Tree Of Their Own Strength, ... Let Them Fall! I Am Not For Tying Or Fastening Them On The Tree In Any Way, Except By Nature's Plan, And If They Will Not Stay There, Let Them Fall. And If The Negro Cannot Stand On His Own Legs, Let Him Fall Also.
Fall
Apples
Tree
The Marriage Institution Cannot Exist Among Slaves, And One Sixth Of The Population Of Democratic America Is Denied It's Privileges By The Law Of The Land. What Is To Be Thought Of A Nation Boasting Of Its Liberty, Boasting Of It's Humanity, Boasting Of Its Christianity, Boasting Of Its Love Of Justice And Purity, And Yet Having Within Its Own Borders Three Millions Of Persons Denied By Law The Right Of Marriage?
Love
America
Law
Shields Green Was Not One To Shrink From Hardships Or Dangers. He Was A Man Of Few Words, And His Speech Was Singularly Broken; But His Courage And Self-respect Made Him Quite A Dignified Character.
Character
Men
Self
You Have To Take Power. No One Gives It.
Giving
Interpreted As It Ought To Be Interpreted, The Constitution Is A Glorious Liberty Document!
Liberty
Constitution
Glorious
A Man Is Worked On By What He Works On.
Men
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.
Fire
Light
Earthquakes
From The First I Saw No Chance Of Bettering The Condition Of The Freedman Until He Should Cease To Be Merely A Freedman And Should Become A Citizen.
Citizens
Saws
Firsts
Power Concedes Nothing Without Demand. It Never Has And Never Will. Show Me The Exact Amount Of Wrong And Injustices That Are Visited Upon A Person And I Will Show You The Exact Amount Of Words Endured By These People.
People
Literature
Demand
Educate Your Sons And Daughters, Send Them To School, And Show Them That Beside The Cartridge Box, The Ballot Box, And The Jury Box, You Also Have The Knowledge Box.
Daughter
School
Son
You Degrade Us And Then Ask Why We Are Degraded. You Shut Our Mouths And Ask Why We Don't Speak. You Close Your Colleges And Seminaries Against Us And Then Ask Why We Don't Know.
College
Justice
Diversity
For Of All Slaveholders With Whom I Have Ever Met, Religious Slaveholders Are The Worst. I Have Ever Found Them The Meanest And Basest, The Most Cruel And Cowardly, Of All Others.
Religious
Found
Mets
Fugitive Slaves Were Rare Then, And As A Fugitive Slave Lecturer, I Had The Advantage Of Being The First One Out.
Firsts
Slave
Advantage
In A Composite Nation Like Ours, Made Up Of Almost Every Variety Of The Human Family, There Should Be, As Before The Law, No Rich, No Poor, No High, No Low, No Black, No White, But One Country, One Citizenship Equal Rights And A Common Destiny For All. A Government That Cannot Or Does Not Protect The Humblest Citizen In His Right To Life, Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness, Should Be Reformed Or Overthrown, Without Delay.
Country
Pursuit Of Happiness
Equality
Having Despised Us, It Is Not Strange That Americans Should Seek To Render Us Despicable; Having Enslaved Us, It Is Natural That They Should Strive To Prove Us Unfit For Freedom; Having Denounced Us As Indolent, It Is Not Strange That They Should Cripple Our Enterprises.
Strange
Strive
Natural
Freedom Now Appeared, To Disappear No More Forever... I Saw Nothing Without Seeing It, I Heard Nothing Without Hearing It, And Felt Nothing Without Feeling It. It Looked From Every Star, It Smiled In Every Calm, Breathed In Every Wind, And Moved In Every Storm.
Stars
Wind
Forever
The Thought Of Only Being A Creature Of The Present And The Past Was Troubling. I Longed For A Future Too, With Hope In It. The Desire To Be Free, Awakened My Determination To Act, To Think, And To Speak.
Determination
Past
Thinking
I Love The Pure, Peaceable, And Impartial Christianity Of Christ; I Therefore Hatethe Corrupt, Slaveholding, Women-whipping, Cradle-plundering, Partial, And Hypocritical Christianity Of This Land. Indeed, I Can See No Reason, But The Most Deceitful One, For Calling The Religion Of This Land Christianity. I Look Upon It As The Climax Of All Misnomers, The Boldest Of All Frauds, And The Grossest Of All Libels.
Land
Looks
Calling
The Thing Worse Than Rebellion Is The Thing That Causes Rebellion.
Uprising
Causes
Rebellion
What, To The American Slave, Is Your Fourth Of July? I Answer: A Day That Reveals To Him, More Than All Other Days Of The Year, The Gross Injustices And Cruelty To Which He Is The Constant Victim. To Him Your Celebration Is A Sham.
July
Years
Justice
Instead Of The Bright, Blue Sky Of America, I Am Covered With The Soft, Grey Fog Of The Emerald Isle. I Breathe, And Lo! The Chattel Becomes A Man.
Men
Fog
Blue
In All The Relations Of Life And Death, We Are Met By The Color Line.
Color
Life And Death
Lines
A Little Learning, Indeed, May Be A Dangerous Thing, But The Want Of Learning Is A Calamity To Any People.
Education
Learning
People
A Man Without Force, Is Without The Essential Dignity Of Humanity. Human Nature Is So Constituted, That It Cannot Honor A Helpless Man, Although It Can Pity Him.
Men
Humanity
Honor
Beat And Cuff Your Slave, Keep Him Hungry And Spiritless, And He Will Follow The Chain Of His Master Like A Dog. Feed And Clothe Him Well, Work Him Moderately, Surround Him With Physical Comfort And Dreams Of Freedom Intrude.
Dream
Dog
Comfort
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.
Peace
Patriotic
Ignorance
Vainly You Talk About Voting It Down. When You Have Cast Your Millions Of Ballots, You Have Not Reached The Evil. It Has Fastened Its Root Deep Into The Heart Of The Nation, And Nothing But God's Truth And Love Can Cleanse The Land. We Must Change The Moral Sentiment.
Heart
Roots
Land
The Church Of This Country Is Not Only Indifferent To The Wrongs Of The Slave, It Actually Takes Sides With The Oppressors.... For My Part, I Would Say, Welcome Infidelity! Welcome Atheism! Welcome Anything! In Preference To The Gospel, As Preached By These Divines! They Convert The Very Name Of Religion Into An Engine Of Tyranny And Barbarous Cruelty, And Serve To Confirm More Infidels, In This Age, Than All The Infidel Writings Of Thomas Paine, Voltaire, And Bolingbroke Put Together Have Done!
Country
Writing
Names
I Have One Great Political Idea... That Idea Is An Old One. It Is Widely And Generally Assented To; Nevertheless, It Is Very Generally Trampled Upon And Disregarded. The Best Expression Of It, I Have Found In The Bible. It Is In Substance, "righteousness Exalteth A Nation - Sin Is A Reproach To Any People." This Constitutes My Politics, The Negative And Positive Of My Politics, And The Whole Of My Politics... I Feel It My Duty To Do All In My Power To Infuse This Idea Into The Public Mind, That It May Speedily Be Recognized And Practiced Upon By Our People.
Expression
Ideas
People
You Have Seen How A Man Was Made A Slave; You Shall See How A Slave Was Made A Man.
Men
Black History
African American
The Constitution Of The United States Knows No Distinction Between Citizens On Account Of Color. Neither Does It Know Any Difference Between A Citizen Of A State And A Citizen Of The United States.
Color
Differences
Democracy
The 4th Of July Is The First Great Fact In Your Nation's History — The Very Ring-bolt In The Chain Of Your Yet Undeveloped Destiny. Pride And Patriotism, Not Less Than Gratitude, Prompt You To Celebrate And To Hold It In Perpetual Remembrance. I Have Said That The Declaration Of Independence Is The Ring-bolt To The Chain Of Your Nation's Destiny; So, Indeed, I Regard It. The Principles Contained In That Instrument Are Saving Principles. Stand By Those Principles, Be True To Them On All Occasions, In All Places, Against All Foes, And At Whatever Cost.
Gratitude
4th Of July
Pride
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