Quotessence
Home / Authors / Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass Quotes

Orator

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenSlaveryLibertySlaveJusticePeopleLiteratureMayFreedomIfsSocial JusticeNationsPatrioticMadeMoralShouldCultureDiversityRightsTyranny

Famous Frederick Douglass Quotes

“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.”

AmericaNationsReligiousPrayerLibertyCrimeGreatnessMereVanityDeceptionHypocrisyFraudTyrantsSavagesVeilsSermonsHollowOur PrayersDisgraceMockeryParadesHymnsAbolitionCover UpsBrassSwellingSolemnityLiberty And EqualityImpudence
Author:Frederick Douglass
Create image

“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
Create image

“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.”

HeartEvilNationsMoralMillionsLandRootsAnd LoveCastsVotingSentimentsBallotsTruth And Love
Book:Frederick Douglass: The Narrative and Selected Writings
Create image

“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?”

LovePersonsAgeAmericaLawHumanityThreeNationsJusticeLibertyChristianityMillionsLandInstitutionsDemocraticSlavePrivilegePopulationBordersPurityDeniedBoast
Author:Frederick Douglass
Create image

“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.”

MenNeedsFeelingsLightCultureNationsJusticeFireCrimeNeededDiversityConscienceSocial JusticeStormGentleHypocrisyExposedShowersThunderEarthquakesProprietyWhirlwind
Author:Frederick Douglass
Create image

“If we would reach a degree of civilization higher and grander than any yet attained, we should welcome to our ample continent all the nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples, and as fast as they learn our language and comprehend the duties of citizenship, we should incorporate them into the American body politic. The outspread wings of the American eagle are broad enough to shelter all who are likely to come.”

IfsShouldEnoughBodyLanguageNationsDutyHigherCivilizationDegreesWingsTongueImmigrationWelcomeBroadsContinentsShelterCitizenshipEaglesKindredIllegal ImmigrationAmerican Eagle
Author:Frederick Douglass
Create image

“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.”

PeopleFeelsMindMayIdeasWholePoliticalFoundNationsSinExpressionDutyNegativeSubstanceVotingRighteousnessNeverthelessReproachDisregardedGreat PoliticalNegative And Positive
Author:Frederick Douglass
Create image

“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.”

WorldMayFactsLastsAmericaFoundNationsSidesPracticeAbuseLaysSouthEverydayHypocrisyReignRivalsMonarchyDespotismTravel The WorldOld WorldShamelessSouth AmericaBarbarity
Author:Frederick Douglass
Create image

“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.”

FirstsSaidFactsNationsPrinciplesDestinyPrideGratitudeCostRegardIndependenceInstrumentsRingsBeing TrueCelebrateChainsSavingOccasionsPerpetualRemembranceDeclarationFoe4th Of JulyJulyBoltsDeclaration Of IndependencePromptsAll Occasions
Author:Frederick Douglass
Create image