Sign in with your pod

Famous quotes

Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,808 quotes Who coined it · How we decide

EnglishItalianoPolskiעבריתFrançaisPortuguêsفارسیEspañol中文РусскийDeutschالعربيةहिन्दी日本語ΕλληνικάLatina

Ernestine Rose

65 quotes

• “Thomas Paine was persecuted while alive and slandered after his death, and all in the name of Religion. Well might we exclaim: "Religion! What dark and atrocious deeds have not been perpetrated in thy name" - Every tyrant, when he sets his iron heel on the necks of his victims pacifies his obedient slaves with the right divine to crush Humanity. Russia, to inspire her slaves with additional ferocity, made use of the same dark, mysterious influence. Under its banner, as the apostle of religion, she went forth to crush young Freedom in Europe, and her success is upheld as a mark of divine favor. After immolating every noble spirit she can crush, Te Deum is sung in the churches, and thanks given to God for the victory! The silly despot of Austria, in committing outrages that make Humanity shudder, in sparing neither age nor sex. but sacrificing every thing that comes within his pestilential atmosphere, has, like the Pope, the pretext of power from above, and in the name of religion perpetrates cruelties that would shame the darkest ages of human existence. But it will not. it cannot remain thus much longer. Though Freedom's champions have been defeated, outraged, and down-trodden, Humanity will assert her rights. The soil on which the blood of her noblest children has been shed, will re-produce an abundant harvest of the sons of freedom, who will sweep superstition and tyranny from the face of the earth! (Cries of "hear! hear!" mixed with cheers and applause.)”

  Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “...let me say to all: Deserve the name of friends to Thomas Paine. The admirers of his moral courage, we must like him be true to our convictions; like him fearlessly oppose error wherever we find it, in church or state; never encourage in word or deed those things that are obstacles to human progression; never sacrifice principle for popularity, for it is unworthy of an honest and noble mind; court truth only, for it is the noblest impulse to all our actions; and with truth as our guide, let us work on for the emancipation of man, not only from his physical but mental bondage, and hasten the glorious time when tyranny and oppression will cease, and union, directed by knowledge and affection, will allow man to dwell in harmony, security, and peace. (Tremendous applause.)”

  Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “this movement seems to be one of the highest and greatest importance that has taken place in our age-(Applause) of more importance even than the one that has so long lain at my heart, the rights of woman (Applause)- for it is closely connected with it; and as woman has not been represented here, I feel it my duty to raise my voice and protest against the Bible, or, as it is called, the Word of God; for if a line of demarcation could be drawn of the injurious effects produced by the errors of that book on man or woman, I would say most emphatically, that on account of the inferior education and experience of woman, the errors of the Bible which have been palmed off upon society as emanations from some superior wisdom and power, have had a far more pernicious effect on the mind of woman than of man, for knowledge and experience are the only safeguards against superstition; and as woman has received less of the light of knowledge, superstition has had a stronger hold on her mind, and has enslaved her far more than man. (Applause, hisses, and cries of "Shame, shame.")”

  Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “As the Bible is based on error, what can its influence be but pernicious? For as truth is always beneficial, so is error always injurious. If we examine the history of Christianity, we will find that every step of its progress has been made in blood, and every atrocity committed has found authority in the Bible...The time I trust will come is already at hand-when the Bible, like any other book, will be subjected to the test of reason, the light of knowledge and of truth, and by that test either stand or fall, and every man will adopt what appears to him good, and reject what appears to him bad and inconsistent. But on account of its having been forced on man as an infallible rule of life, it has been more instrumental to keep him in ignorance, degradation, and vice, to prevent his elevation and development, to produce war, slavery, intemperance, and all the evils that afflict the race, than any and all the books that have ever been concocted by man...To you, my sisters, I would but say, that the defenders of the Bible have given you a most practical evidence of the rights and liberties Christianity has conferred upon you. The Bible has enslaved you, the churches have been built upon your subjugated necks; do you wish to be free? Then you must trample the Bible, the church, and the priests under your feet.”

  Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “in comparison to the liberation of 800,000 slaves, the Declaration of Independence falls into utter insignificance...the great act of emancipation of 800,000 human beings has shown to the world that the African race are not only capable of taking care of themselves, but are capable of enjoying peacefully as much liberty and as much freedom as the white men. Thus it has done far more towards the cause of freedom — towards emancipation from all kinds of slavery — than the Declaration of Independence did. For in spite of that Declaration — in sadness and sorrow do I say it — the United States of America are guilty of outrage and recreancy to their own principles in retaining slavery; while Great Britain, without that Declaration, having yet a great deal of oppression and tyranny in her midst, has shown a noble example to the world in emancipating all her chattel slaves.”

  Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “It is utterly impossible for us, as finite beings, with the utmost stretch of the imagination, to conceive the depth and immensity of the horrors of slavery...Not to be your own, bodily, mentally, or morally — that is to be a slave... Slavery is, not to belong to yourself — to be robbed of yourself. There is nothing that I so much abhor as that single thing — to be robbed of one’s self. We are our own legitimate masters. Nature has not created masters and slaves; nature has created man free as the air of heaven. The black man and the white man are equally the children of nature. The same mother earth has created us all; the same life pervades all; the same spirit ought to animate all. Slavery deprives us of ourselves.”

  Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I go for emancipation of all kinds — white and black, man and woman. Humanity’s children are, in my estimation, all one and the same family, inheriting the same earth; therefore there should be no slaves of any kind among them. There are ties that bind man to man far stronger than the ties of nation — than the political and commercial ties — an even stronger than the ties of relationship; and these are the ties of humanity. Humanity, the great mother of all, has thrown around us ties, sympathies and feelings which are more endearing, more effectual, and more noble, than any other than have ever bound man to man.”

  Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Our friend William Lloyd Garrison has repeated to us the many blessings resulting from upright actions. Yes, every act brings its own reward or its own punishment. Every good act produces its own corresponding reward, and every bad act its corresponding punishment. How, then, must not only the South but the North be punished in consequence of that great, immeasurable wrong of Slavery? Oh, the shame and outrage that, for one single moment, that great blot should be suffered to remain on the otherwise beautiful escutcheon of this republic! But permit me to say that the slaves of the South are not the only people that are in bondage. All women are excluded from the enjoyment of that liberty which your Declaration of Independence asserts to be the inalienable right of all. The same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that pertains to man, pertains to woman also. For what is life without liberty? Which of you here before me would not willingly risk his or her life, if in danger of being made a slave? Emancipation from every kind of bondage is my principle. I go for the recognition of human rights, without distinction of sect, party, sex, or color.”

  Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Natural history gives us a knowledge of the animal kingdom in general; the different organ­isms, structures, and powers of the various species. Physiology teaches the nature of man, the laws that govern his being, the functions of the vital organs, and the conditions upon which alone health and life depend. Phrenology treats of the laws of mind, the different portions of the brain, the temperaments, the organs, how to develop some and repress others to produce a well balanced and healthy condition. But in the whole animal econ­omy—though the brain is considered to be a "mi­crocosm," in which may be traced a resemblance or relationship with everything in Nature—not a spot can be found to indicate the existence of a God.”

  Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) first seen 1861 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: 1881, A Defence of Atheism: A lecture delivered in Mercantile Hall, Boston on 10 April, 1861, p. 4

• “The Universe is one vast chemical laboratory, in constant operation, by her internal forces. The laws or principles of attraction, cohesion, and re­pulsion, produce in never-ending succession the phenomena of composition, decomposition, and recomposition. The how, we are too ignorant to understand, too modest to presume, and too honest to profess. Had man been a patient and im­partial inquirer, and not with childish presump­tion attributed everything he could not under­stand, to supernatural causes, given names to hide his ignorance, but observed the operations of Na­ture, he would undoubtedly have known more, been wiser, and happier.”

  Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) first seen 1861 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: 1881, A Defence of Atheism: A lecture delivered in Mercantile Hall, Boston on 10 April, 1861, p. 15

• “Slavery being the cause of the war, we must look to its utter extinction for the remedy...Abraham Lincoln has issued a Proclamation. He has emancipated all the slaves of the rebel States with his pen, but that is all. To set them really and thoroughly free, we will have to use some other instrument than the pen. The slave is not emancipated; he is not free...I say to Abraham Lincoln, if these generals are good for anything, if they are fit to take the lead, put them at the head of armies, and let them go South and free the slaves you have announced free. If they are good for nothing, dispose of them as of anything else that is useless.”

  Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “What has brought on this war? Slavery, undoubtedly. Slavery was the primary cause of it. But the great secondary cause was the fact that the North, for the sake of the Union, has constantly compromised. Every demand that the South made of the North was acceded to, until the South came really to believe that they were the natural and legitimate masters, not only of the slaves, but of the North too...A true Union is based upon principles of mutual interest, of mutual respect and reciprocity, none of which ever existed between the North and South. They based their institutions on slavery; the North on freedom.”

  Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Slavery and freedom can not exist together. Seward proclaimed a truism, but he did not appreciate its import...A small republic, a small nation, based upon the eternal principle of freedom, is great and powerful. A large empire based upon slavery, is weak and without foundation. The moment the light of freedom shines upon it, it discloses its defects, and unmasks its hideous deformities. As I said before, I would rather have a small republic without the taint and without the stain of slavery in it, than to have the South brought back by compromise. To avert such calamity, we must work. And our work must mainly be to watch and criticise and urge the Administration to do its whole duty to freedom and humanity.”

  Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I have always thought I was convinced not only of the necessity but of the great importance of obtaining the elective franchise for woman; but recently I have become convinced that I never felt sufficiently that importance until now. Just read your public papers and see how our Senators and our members of the House are running round through the Southern States to hold meetings, and to deliver public addresses. To whom? To the freedmen. And why now, and why not ten, fifteen, or twenty years ago? Why do they get up meetings for the colored men, and call them fellow-men, brothers, and gentlemen? Because the freedman has that talisman in his hands which the politician is looking after. Don't you perceive, then, the importance of the elective franchise? Perhaps when we have the elective franchise in our hands, these great senators will condescend to inform us too of the importance of obtaining our rights.”

  Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “A wrong always operates against itself, and falls back on the wrong-doer. We have proclaimed to the world universal suffrage; but it is universal suffrage with a vengeance attached to it—universal suffrage excluding the negro and the woman, who are by far the largest majority in this country. It is not the majority that rules here, but the minority. White men are in the minority in this nation. White women, black men, and black women compose the large majority of the nation. Yet, in spite of this fact, in spite of common sense, in spite of justice, while our members of Congress can prate so long about justice, and human rights, and the rights of the negro, they have not the moral courage to say anything for the rights of woman.”

  Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source