Mans greatness consists in his ability to do and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done. – Frederick Douglass
A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me. – 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 in an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob, and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. – Frederick Douglass
The soul that is within me no man can degrade. – Frederick Douglass
The white mans happiness cannot be purchased by the black mans misery. – Frederick Douglass
People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get. – Frederick Douglass
Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as to work. – Frederick Douglass
At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. – 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
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. – 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
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
One and God make a majority. – Frederick Douglass
We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future. – 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 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. – Frederick Douglass
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. – 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
