Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York, gaining note for his oratory and incisive antislavery writings. Profoundly inspirational Frederick Douglass quotes will challenge the way you think, and help guide you through any life experience.
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Famous Frederick Douglass Quotes
To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker. Frederick Douglass
Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. Frederick Douglass
Some know the value of education by having it. I know its value by not having it. Frederick Douglass
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. Frederick Douglass
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them. Frederick Douglass
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. Frederick Douglass
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. Frederick Douglass
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. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Frederick Douglass
The soul that is within me no man can degrade. Frederick Douglass
Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave. Frederick Douglass
We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future. Frederick Douglass
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. Frederick Douglass
Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. Frederick Douglass
Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Frederick Douglass
The white man’s happiness cannot be purchased by the black man’s misery. Frederick Douglass
I prayed for freedom for twenty years, but received no answer until I prayed with my legs. Frederick Douglass
I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted. Frederick Douglass
The white man’s happiness cannot be purchased by the black man’s misery. Frederick Douglass
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. Frederick Douglass
To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker. Frederick Douglass
Fugitive slaves were rare then, and as a fugitive slave lecturer, I had the advantage of being the first one out. Frederick Douglass
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. Frederick Douglass
What to the Slave is the 4th of July. Frederick Douglass
People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get. Frederick Douglass
There is not a man beneath the canopy of Heaven who does not know that slavery is wrong for him. Frederick Douglass
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Frederick Douglass
Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as to work. Frederick Douglass
I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong. Frederick Douglass
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. Frederick Douglass
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. Frederick Douglass
A man who will enslave his own blood, may not be safely relied on for magnamity. Frederick Douglass
The American people have this to learn that 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 person nor property is safe. Frederick Douglass
I should esteem it a privilege to set you an example as to how mankind ought to treat each other. I am your fellow-man, but not your slave. Frederick Douglass
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. Frederick Douglass
The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion. Frederick Douglass
A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me. Frederick Douglass
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. Frederick Douglass
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? Frederick Douglass
A smile or a tear has not nationality; joy and sorrow speak alike to all nations, and they, above all the confusion of tongues, proclaim the brotherhood of man. Frederick Douglass
I had as well be killed running as die standing. Frederick Douglass
The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous. Frederick Douglass
Power concedes nothing without a demand. Frederick Douglas
The destiny of the colored American is the destiny of America. Frederick Douglass
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them. Frederick Douglass
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. Frederick Douglass
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. Frederick Douglass
Freedom is a road seldom traveled by the multitude. Frederick Douglass
Some know the value of education by having it. I know it’s value by not having it. Frederick Douglass
A great man, tender of heart, strong of nerve, boundless patience and broadest sympathy, with no motive apart from his country. Frederick Douglass
A smile or a tear has not nationality; joy and sorrow speak alike to all nations, and they, above all the confusion of tongues, proclaim the brotherhood of man. Frederick Douglass
Our destiny is largely in our hands. Frederick Douglass
The soul that is within me no man can degrade. Frederick Douglass
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. Frederick Douglass
The man who is right is a majority. He who has God and conscience on his side, has a majority against the universe. Frederick Douglass
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. Frederick Douglass
A man who will enslave his own blood, may not be safely relied on for magnamity. Frederick Douglass
I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong. Frederick Douglass
Freedom is a road seldom traveled by the multitude. Frederick Douglass
A man’s character always takes its hue, more or less, from the form and color of things about him. Frederick Douglass
If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops 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, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and it never will. Men may not get all they pay for in this world, but they must certainly pay for all they get. Frederick Douglass
People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get. Frederick Douglass
The silver trump of freedom roused in my soul eternal wakefulness. Frederick Douglass
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Frederick Douglass
My hopes were never brighter than now. Frederick Douglass
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. If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate 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, 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. Frederick Douglass
Man’s greatness consists in his ability to do and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done. Frederick Douglass
Our destiny is largely in our hands. Frederick Douglass
Right is of no sex, Truth is of no color, God is the Father of us all, and we are all Brethren. Frederick Douglass
At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Frederick Douglass
A man is worked on by what he works on. Frederick Douglass
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. Frederick Douglass
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
But I should be false in the earliest sentiments of my soul, if I suppressed the opinion. I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur my own abhorrence. Frederick Douglass
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. Frederick Douglass
We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future. Frederick Douglass
A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people. Frederick Douglass
Experience is a keen teacher. Frederick Douglass
A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me. Frederick Douglass
I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted. Frederick Douglass
My hopes were never brighter than now. Frederick Douglass
