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Frederick Douglass

256 quotes

“They cannot degrade Frederick Douglass. The soul that is within me no man can degrade. I am not the one that is being degraded on account of this treatment, but those who are inflicting it upon me…”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Upon being forced to leave a train car due to his color, as quoted in Up from Slavery (1901), Ch. VI: "Black Race And Red Race, the penalty of telling the truth, of telling the simple truth, in answer to a series of str…
“Right is of no sex, Truth is of no color, God is the Father of us all, and we are all Brethren.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Douglass' chosen motto for his weekly publication The North Star. It appeared on the first issue. As quoted in Maurice S. Lee (2009), The Cambridge Companion to Frederick Douglass. Cambridge University Press, p. 50; Tho…
“The Constitution of the United States" (26 March 1860), Glasgow, United Kingdom.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The man who is right is a majority. We, who have God and conscience on our side, have a majority against the universe.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Frederick Douglass: The Colored Orator (1969) by Frederic May Holland, p. 212
“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.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Cambridge Companion to Frederick Douglass (2009), by Maurice S. Lee, Cambridge University Press, p. 70
“Your wickedness and cruelty committed in this respect on your fellow creatures, are greater than all the stripes you have laid upon my back or theirs. It is an outrage upon the soul, a war upon the immortal spirit, and one for which you must give account at the bar of our common Father and Creator.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1941), chapter 47, p. 579
“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.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Republican Party is the ship and all else is the sea around us.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Frederick Douglass American Hero (2008), by Connie A. Miller, Sr., p. 277
“If the Republican party shall fail to carry out this purpose, God will raise up another party that will be faithful.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Slavery has left behind it a spirit that still delights in human blood. Outrage, murder, and assassination are the inheritance of the freed men and women of the South. Neither our government nor our civilization seems able to stop the flow of blood. As in the time of slavery, the Church is silent.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is something about Hayti which we have to deplore, and so there is about the United States. Let us go back 100 years and look at Hayti, and we find it surrounded by slavery and the whole Caribbean Sea reddened by the curse.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nature does not make your existence depend upon me, or mine depend upon yours. I cannot walk upon your legs, or you upon mine. I cannot breathe for you, or you for me; I must breathe for myself, and you for yourself. We are distinct persons, and are each equally provided with faculties necessary to our individual existence. In leaving you, I took nothing but what belonged to me, and in no way lessened your means for obtaining an honest living. Your faculties remained yours, and mine became useful to their rightful owner. I therefore see no wrong in any part of the transaction.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1848 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Thomas Auld (September 3, 1848), Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings, ed., Philip S. Foner, 1: 339
“American slaveholders must prepare, not only to be excluded from the communion of British Christians, but peremptorily driven from the platform of every philanthropic association. Let them be hemmed in on every side. Let them be placed beyond the pale of respectability, and, standing out separated, alone in their infamy, let the storm gather over them, and its hottest bolts descend. Our justification is ample:—the slaveholder is a man-stealer.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1846 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to William Lloyd Garrison” (May 23, 1846)
“Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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!”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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. I did not hesitate to let it be known of me, that the white man who expected to succeed in whipping, must also succeed in killing me.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let us render the tyrant no aid; let us not hold the light by which he can trace the footprints of our flying brother.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ; I therefore hate the corrupt, slave-holding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We 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.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The truth is, the people here know nothing of the republican Negro hate prevalent in our glorious land. They measure and esteem men according to their moral and intellectual worth, and not according to the color of their skin. Whatever may be said of the aristocracies here, there is none based on the color of a man's skin.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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. It is righteousness that exalteth a nation while sin is a reproach to any people.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1847 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech, "Love of God, Love of Man, Love of Country", Syracuse, New York (September 24, 1847)
“Since the light of God’s truth beamed upon my mind, I have become a friend of that religion which teaches us to pray for our enemies — which, instead of shooting balls into their hearts, loves them. I would not hurt a hair of a slaveholder’s head. I will tell you what else I would not do. I would not stand around the slave with my bayonet pointed at his breast, in order to keep him in the power of the slaveholder.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1847 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Love of God, Love of Man, Love of Country (October 22, 1847), Delivered at Market Hall, New York City, New York.
“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.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1847 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Love of God, Love of Man, Love of Country (October 22, 1847), Delivered at Market Hall, New York City, New York.
“I have shown that slavery is wicked—wicked, in that it violates the great law of liberty, written on every human heart—wicked, in that it violates the first command of the decalogue—wicked, in that it fosters the most disgusting licentiousness—wicked, in that it mars and defaces the image of God by cruel and barbarous inflictions—wicked, in that it contravenes the laws of eternal justice, and tramples in the dust all the humane and heavenly precepts of the New Testament.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1850 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Inhumanity of Slavery. Extract from A Lecture on Slavery, at Rochester. December 8, 1850
“Old as the everlasting hills; immovable as the throne of God; and certain as the purposes of eternal power, against all hinderances, and against all delays, and despite all the mutations of human instrumentalities, it is the faith of my soul, that this anti-slavery cause will triumph.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1855 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Anti-Slavery Movement. Extracts from a Lecture before Various. Anti-Slavery Bodies, in the Winter of 1855.
“The ground which a colored man occupies in this country is, every inch of it, sternly disputed.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1853 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society annual meeting, New York City (May 1853)
“I would unite with anybody to do right; and with nobody to do wrong.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1855 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lecture, The Anti-Slavery Movement (1855)
“In one point of view, we, the abolitionists and colored people, should meet [[w:Dred_Scott_decision|[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.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1857 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech on the Dred Scott Decision (1857)
“The days of Black Power are numbered. Its course, indeed is onward. But with the swiftness of an arrow, it rushes to the tomb. While crushing its millions, it is also crushing itself. The sword of Retribution, suspended by a single hair, hangs over it. That sword must fall. Liberty must triumph.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Sustaining Black Studies", by Winston A. Van Horne, Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 37, No. 3, (January 2007)
“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.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. 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.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Liberty I will have, or die in the attempt to gain it.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Where there is seeming contentment with slavery, there is certain treachery to freedom.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The gnawings of hunger conquers by degrees, till all that a man has he would give in exchange for a single crust of bread.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The man who prays in secret is far more likely to be sincere than he who loves to pray standing in the street, or in the great congregation.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The lonely billows of the Atlantic, where every breeze speaks of courage and liberty.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You cannot write the bloody laws of slavery on those restless billows. The ocean, if not the land, is free.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the South — as I have observed it and proved it — 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 abominations fester and flourish. Were I again to be reduced to the condition of A slave, next to that calamity, I should regard the fact of being the slave of a religious slaveholder, the greatest that could befall me.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1860 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Plea For Free Speech in Boston (10 December 1860), as contained in Words That Changed America, Alex Barnett, Rowman & Littlefield (reprint, 2006), p. 156
“The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1861 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the American Civil War (1861); as quoted in Afro-American Writing: An Anthology of Prose and Poetry, by Richard A. Long.
“The destiny of the colored American … is the destiny of America.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1862 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Emancipation League (12 February 1862), Boston
“The relation between the white and colored people of this country is the great, paramount, imperative, and all-commanding question for this age and nation to solve.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1863 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Church of the Puritans, New York City (May 1863)
“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.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1863 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: About Abraham Lincoln (1864), as quoted in Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, by Eric Foner, p. 6
“[There] was one idea, rule or principle, call it what you will, which entirely took possession of me, even in childhood, and which stood out strongly, invincible against every argument drawn from nature and scripture in favor of slavery. What was the idea, rule, or principle? This it was: Every man is the original, rightful, and absolute owner of his own body; or in other words, every man is himself, is his self, if you please, and belongs to himself, and can only part from his self ownership, by the commission of a crime.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1864 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Friendly Word to Maryland,” address delivered in Baltimore, Maryland on November 17, 1864, in Blassingame, Frederick Douglass Papers 4: 42
“The fathers of this republic waged a seven years war for political liberty. Thomas Jefferson taught me that my bondage was, in its essence, worse than ages of that which your fathers rose in rebellion to oppose.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1864 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted by Jefferson's Monticello, Extract from Frederick Douglass’s Address in Baltimore (17 November 1864)