Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, writer, abolitionist, and statesman. He became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York. He became famous for his oratory and antislavery writings. He has considered as a living counter-example to slaveholders arguments that slaves lacked the intellectual capacity.
Douglass wrote several autobiographies, but a notable one is his "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" which was published in 1845. It became a bestseller and promoted the cause of abolition. His second book, "My Bondage and My Freedom" got published in 1855.
He wrote his last autobiography " Life and Times of Frederick Douglass" that was first published in 1881 and was revised in 1892. Douglass also actively supported women's suffrage. He was the first African-American to be nominated for the designation of Vice President of the United States as the running mate and Vice Presidential of Victoria Woodhull.
Douglass was a believer in the equality of all people. He believed in making alliances across racial divides. On February 20, 1895, Douglass attended a National Council of Women meeting in Washington, D.C. On the same day, after returning home, he died of a massive heart attack. Below are some of the famous Frederick Douglass Quotes.
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.
Starting something from scratch is easier than repairing old wounds. Similarly, if you are given the task to raise children, that would be an easy one. Repairing grown-up men who are broken is extremely difficult and painful.
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.
We don't need the lesser or softer things that may seem nice to us. Thus, we don't need light but fire. We don't need the gentle shower but the real thunder. We need some furious, fierce and extraordinary things that make our living experience worthwhile.
I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.
Douglass is hereby talking about how prayers are not always listened to. He says that he prayed for 20 years. However, he didn't get an answer for them. He then prayed with his legs and found his prayers answered. Thus, praying with legs being a tough task actually led to fruition.
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.
Power never concedes to anything. It's absolute in nature. If at all it does, it only concedes to demands. Power is, in that sense, quite obstinate. You should see how powerful people also don't concede to anything. Nor will they ever do it in future.
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.
If you are quietly following what others are saying, you are simply perpetuating caste and class differences. You are supplicating to their standards and norms, which is the worst thing to do in this world. If you silently listen to what others are saying, you are simply perpetuating those wrongs.
Continue reading some more Frederick Douglass Quotes...
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.
Tyrants can go to any length to oppress someone. They can stoop down so low so as to hurt others. However, the limits of tyrants are prescribed by the sustenance and endurance of the oppressed. If the oppressed endure for a longer time, the pride of the oppressive one would break.
The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.
How can a nation sustain itself for a long time? It can only last long when there are good values and virtues residing in the people of that nation. If the nation is truthful, honest and virtuous, then it's bound to reach its new heights and glory.
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.
Douglass was bound as a slave. He was chained and beaten. Thus, he's saying that if one person is chained by their neck, they would never chain the other person's legs. If you are in a pitiable condition, you would never underestimate the pain the other person would have to go through.
I am a Republican, a black, dyed in the wool Republican, and I never intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress.
Douglass belonged to the Republican Party. He says that he is proud of being a part of that party as he feels that the party is actually good. He feels that it's a party that supports freedom and progress.
If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
You cannot progress without really engaging in any kind of struggle. You will have to make efforts in every small task you do. You will have to see how the progress goes by. You will have to then draw a strong conclusion as to how progress without struggle is inevitable.
To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.
No one should be entitled to suppress anyone's freedom of speech and expression. It's actually a double wrong one can engage in. If this freedom is suppressed, then other freedoms get curtailed. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as the speaker.
Some more Frederick Douglass Quotes.....
The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion.
If someone asks, what's worse than rebellion, say that the reasons behind it are worse. That's because the rebellion in itself is not as powerful. It's the cause behind it that makes us wonder why the rebellion was so. The underlying causes bring to light the overall conditions of any nation.
One and God make a majority.
Forming a majority can be a difficult task. However, if you add the power of God to any number, no matter how small it is, there will be a majority formed. It is to say that the power of God is too strong.
The soul that is within me no man can degrade.
People can degrade you from the outside. They can make you feel lesser and may not be nice to you. They can also cause you physical harm. However, always keep in mind that no one can degrade the inner soul in you. That soul will always keep you together.
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.
One should always stay true to themselves as well as others. If you speak the truth, you find an inner satisfaction that no one else can give you. Speaking truth may definitely not be taken positively by everyone. However, even if you gather ridicule or abhorrence, don't stop yourself from speaking the truth.
A man's character always takes its hue, more or less, from the form and color of things about him.
A lot of things shape a man's character. He can gain a slight hue and tinge of colour from his surroundings. What's being put forth is an idea as to how man's character isn't created in isolation. His character is built by the form and colour of things around him.
America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.
Douglass is saying that America has only been false in its entire history. It has been false in the present. It was also false in the past because of the entire slave history that dominated it. On similar lines, it will be false in the future too.
Few more Frederick Douglass Quotes...
People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.
Working hard is the only thing that there in our hands. You should always work in the direction of things that lead you to your most favourite destination. However, you should not stop working hard if you don't reach your destination. Rather, just keep working hard, always.
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.
There are many people with problems all around us. Some of them are the ones who don't protest or agitate just because they are in a privileged position. Being in a privileged situation can make you believe that you don't need to agitate. However, you will still demand freedom.
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.
Living in a society where only injustices prevail and only one class subordinates others is not ideal. Staying in such a place is too traumatic. What actually needs to be done is, making that place a better one to live in. If only poverty is enforced in a particular region, none from that place will feel secured.
