Fugitive slaves were rare then, and as a fugitive slave lecturer, I had the advantage of being the first one out. – 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
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. – Frederick Douglass
America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. – Frederick Douglass
I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted. – 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
When men sow the wind it is rational to expect that they will reap the whirlwind. – Frederick Douglass
A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people. – Frederick Douglass
The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous. – 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
People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get. – 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
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
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
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. – 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
