Frederick Douglass was born on February 1818, in Cordova, Maryland, United States. He was a preeminent 19th-century abolitionist, orator, author, and statesman who escaped slavery to become a leading voice for human rights. His key achievements included publishing influential antislavery narratives and newspapers (The North Star), advising President Lincoln during the Civil War, and advocating for women's suffrage. May these Frederick Douglass quotes and sayings offer you insights to remind you that progress requires active, unyielding effort.
1. “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” – Frederick Douglass
2. “Mankind differs as the waves, but they are one as the sea.” – Frederick Douglass
3. “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” – Frederick Douglass
4. “My faculties and powers of body and soul are not my own, but are the property of a fellow-mortal in no sense superior to me.” – Frederick Douglass
5. “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.” – Frederick Douglass
6. “People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.” – Frederick Douglass
7. “The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes the rebellion.” – Frederick Douglass
8. “The white man's happiness cannot be purchased by the black man's misery.” – Frederick Douglass
9. “Self-made men are those who owe little or nothing to birth, relationship, or friendly surroundings; to wealth inherited or to early approved means of education.” – Frederick Douglass
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10. “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” – Frederick Douglass
11. “Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.” – Frederick Douglass
12. “Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.” – Frederick Douglass
13. “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, neither persons nor property will be safe.” – Frederick Douglass
14. “You are not judged by the height you have risen, but from the depth you have climbed.” – Frederick Douglass
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15. “I prayed for freedom for twenty years, but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” – Frederick Douglass
16. “It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder.” – Frederick Douglass
17. “The man who will get up will be helped up, and the man who will not get up will be allowed to stay down.” – Frederick Douglass
18. “I didn't know I was a slave until I found out I couldn't do the things I wanted.” – Frederick Douglass
19. “The life of a nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.” – Frederick Douglass
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20. “Education means emancipation. It means light and liberty.” – Frederick Douglass
21. “The soul that is within me no man can degrade.” – Frederick Douglass
22. “Every one of us should be ashamed to be free while his brother is a slave.” – Frederick Douglass
23. “Experience is a keen teacher.” – Frederick Douglass
24. “A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me.” – Frederick Douglass
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25. “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” – Frederick Douglass
26. “A man’s rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.” – Frederick Douglass
27. “The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” – Frederick Douglass
28. “A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people.” – Frederick Douglass
29. “That which is inhuman cannot be divine.” – Frederick Douglass
30. “Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.” – Frederick Douglass
More Famous Frederick Douglass Quotes and Phrases
31. “I know of no rights of race superior to the rights of humanity.” – Frederick Douglass
32. “We succeed, not alone by the laborious exertions of our faculties, be they small or great, but by the regular, thoughtful and systematic exercise of them.” – Frederick Douglass
33. “America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.” – Frederick Douglass
34. “To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.” – Frederick Douglass
35. “I could, as a free man, look across the bay toward the Eastern Shore where I was born a slave.” – Frederick Douglass
36. “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
37. “At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed.” – Frederick Douglass
38. “Intelligence is a great leveler here as elsewhere.” – Frederick Douglass
39. “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
40. “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.” – Frederick Douglass
41. “Man's greatness consists in his ability to do and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done.” – Frederick Douglass
42. “Some know the value of education by having it. I know its value by not having it.” – Frederick Douglass
43. “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
44. “When men sow the wind it is rational to expect that they will reap the whirlwind.” – Frederick Douglass
45. “Our destiny is largely in our hands.” – Frederick Douglass
46. “A man's character always takes its hue, more or less, from the form and color of things about him.” – Frederick Douglass
47. “Freedom is a road seldom traveled by the multitude.” – Frederick Douglass
48. “Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as to work.” – Frederick Douglass
49. “A man is worked on by what he works on.” – Frederick Douglass
50. “We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future.” – Frederick Douglass
Share these Best Frederick Douglass Quotes about Life with your friends, family, and loved ones to inspire them as well.
2. “Mankind differs as the waves, but they are one as the sea.” – Frederick Douglass
3. “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” – Frederick Douglass
4. “My faculties and powers of body and soul are not my own, but are the property of a fellow-mortal in no sense superior to me.” – Frederick Douglass
5. “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.” – Frederick Douglass
6. “People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.” – Frederick Douglass
7. “The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes the rebellion.” – Frederick Douglass
8. “The white man's happiness cannot be purchased by the black man's misery.” – Frederick Douglass
9. “Self-made men are those who owe little or nothing to birth, relationship, or friendly surroundings; to wealth inherited or to early approved means of education.” – Frederick Douglass
11. “Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.” – Frederick Douglass
12. “Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.” – Frederick Douglass
13. “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, neither persons nor property will be safe.” – Frederick Douglass
14. “You are not judged by the height you have risen, but from the depth you have climbed.” – Frederick Douglass
16. “It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder.” – Frederick Douglass
17. “The man who will get up will be helped up, and the man who will not get up will be allowed to stay down.” – Frederick Douglass
18. “I didn't know I was a slave until I found out I couldn't do the things I wanted.” – Frederick Douglass
19. “The life of a nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.” – Frederick Douglass
21. “The soul that is within me no man can degrade.” – Frederick Douglass
22. “Every one of us should be ashamed to be free while his brother is a slave.” – Frederick Douglass
23. “Experience is a keen teacher.” – Frederick Douglass
24. “A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me.” – Frederick Douglass
26. “A man’s rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.” – Frederick Douglass
27. “The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” – Frederick Douglass
28. “A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people.” – Frederick Douglass
29. “That which is inhuman cannot be divine.” – Frederick Douglass
30. “Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.” – Frederick Douglass
More Famous Frederick Douglass Quotes and Phrases
31. “I know of no rights of race superior to the rights of humanity.” – Frederick Douglass
32. “We succeed, not alone by the laborious exertions of our faculties, be they small or great, but by the regular, thoughtful and systematic exercise of them.” – Frederick Douglass
33. “America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.” – Frederick Douglass
34. “To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.” – Frederick Douglass
35. “I could, as a free man, look across the bay toward the Eastern Shore where I was born a slave.” – Frederick Douglass
36. “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
37. “At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed.” – Frederick Douglass
38. “Intelligence is a great leveler here as elsewhere.” – Frederick Douglass
39. “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
40. “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.” – Frederick Douglass
41. “Man's greatness consists in his ability to do and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done.” – Frederick Douglass
42. “Some know the value of education by having it. I know its value by not having it.” – Frederick Douglass
43. “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
44. “When men sow the wind it is rational to expect that they will reap the whirlwind.” – Frederick Douglass
45. “Our destiny is largely in our hands.” – Frederick Douglass
46. “A man's character always takes its hue, more or less, from the form and color of things about him.” – Frederick Douglass
47. “Freedom is a road seldom traveled by the multitude.” – Frederick Douglass
48. “Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as to work.” – Frederick Douglass
49. “A man is worked on by what he works on.” – Frederick Douglass
50. “We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future.” – Frederick Douglass
Share these Best Frederick Douglass Quotes about Life with your friends, family, and loved ones to inspire them as well.