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You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man
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14 quotes by Frederick Douglass · clear filters
You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man
To make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one
Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read.
At times we were almost disposed to give up, and try to content ourselves with our wretched lot; at others, we were firm and unbending in our determination to go.
The responsibility of success or failure lay heavily upon me.
The strength of our determination was about to be fully tested.
From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom.
The moral which I gained from the dialogue was the power of truth over the conscience of even a slaveholder.
Let us render the tyrant no aid; let us not hold the light by which he can trace the footprints of our flying brother.
It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free.
Once awakened by the silver trump of knowledge, my spirit was roused to eternal wakefulness.
The plea for this outrage was then, as it is always, the tyrant's plea of necessity.
The hardships and dangers involved in the struggle give strength and toughness to the character, and enable it to stand firm in storm as well as in sunshine.
Liberty, as the inestimable birthright of every man, converted every object into an asserter of this right.