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Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass Quotes

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Famous Frederick Douglass Quotes

“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.”

ShouldHumansDoeMadeCountryGovernmentLawNationsBlackWhitePoorCommonLibertyDestinyRichRightsCitizensProtectEqualLowsEqualityPursuitVarietyCitizenshipDelayEqual RightsPursuit Of HappinessRight To LifeHuman FamilyCompositesLife Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness
Author:Frederick Douglass
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“My theory of self-made men is, then, simply this; that they are men of work. Whether or not such men have acquired material, moral or intellectual excellence, honest labor faithfully, steadily and persistently pursued, is the best, if not the only, explanation of their success... All human experience proves over and over again, that any success which comes through meanness, trickery, fraud and dishonour, is but emptiness and will only be a torment to its possessor.”

IfsMenHumansMadeSelfMoralHonestMaterialsTheoryProveIntellectualLaborExcellenceExplanationEmptinessFraudTormentHuman ExperiencePursuedMeannessSelf MadeTrickerySelf Made ManDishonour
Book:The Essential Douglass: Selected Writings and Speeches
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“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.”

ThinkingMenFeelsMadeReasonAbleDesireFoundMoralVisionPlansConditionsGainsSlaverySlaveContentmentBe A ManInconsistency
Book:Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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“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.”

ShouldMeanMadeSometimesFeltTermInterestHeardGroupsBloodBrotherSlaveryStrangerCuriousMy BrotherGrandmotherMy SisterBrothers And SistersTrue Meaning
Book:My Bondage and My Freedom ...
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“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.”

MenWorldMeanLittlesMadeSelfWealthResultsAchieveConditionsBirthAidsFriendlyPeculiarSurroundingsApprovedSelf MadeIndebtedSelf Made ManGreat Results
Author:Frederick Douglass
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“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.”

FeelsPersonsMadePoliticalPeaceJusticeClassPovertySocietyIgnoranceSafeSocial JusticePropertyOppressionOrganizedPatrioticDeniedConspiracyOppressedBlack HistoryPrivate PropertyProperty RightsDegradePeace And JusticeThis SocietyPeace JusticeSocial ClassClass WarfareEnding PovertyEconomic JusticeWorld PovertyLaw And JusticeJustice And MercyAmerican JusticeClass DistinctionClasses Of SocietyClass ConflictEconomic ClassJustice DeniedJustice Will Prevail
Author:Frederick Douglass
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“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.”

IfsGivingHumansDoeHas BeensMadePhilosophyWholeShowsBornSilenceLibertyStruggleProgressRevolutionConflictLet MeExcitingClaimsReformEarnestAugustAbsorbingConcessionsTumultAgitate
Book:Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings
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