Quote collection
232 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"I have often wished myself a beast. I preferred the condition of the meanest reptile to my own. Any thing, no matter what, to get rid of thinking! It was this everlasting thinking of my condition that tormented me. There was no getting rid of it. It was pressed upon me by every object within sight or hearing, animate or inanimate."
"Knowledge unfits a child to be a slave."
"Going to live at Baltimore laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity."
"Men and women, old and young, married and single, were ranked with horses, sheep, and swine"
"Everybody has asked the question . . . 'What shall we do with the Negro?' I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us!"
"...of whom I can say with a grateful heart, 'I was hungry, and he gave me meat; I was thirsty, and he gave me drink; I was a stranger, and he took me in.'"
"Slaves were expected to sing as well as to work. A silent slave was not liked, either by masters or overseers."
"American labor rights activist, on activities of the National Farm Workers Association Human law may know no distinction among men in respect of rights, but human practice may."
"Men of Color, To Arms! The case is before you. This is our golden opportunity. Let us accept it, and forever wipe out the dark reproaches unsparingly hurled against us by our enemies. Let us win for ourselves the gratitude of our country, and the best blessings of our posterity through all time."
"I escaped from slavery and became a leading abolitionist and speaker."
"In one point of view, we, the abolitionists and colored people, should meet [the Dred Scott] decision, unlooked for and monstrous as it appears, in a cheerful spirit. This very attempt to blot out forever the hopes of an enslaved people may be one necessary link in the chain of events preparatory to the downfall and complete overthrow of the whole slave system."
"Heaven's blessing must attend all, and freedom must soon be given to the pining millions under a ruthless bondage."