American - Author | February 14, 1818 - February 20, 1895
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
GrowthGreatReflectionBattleMoral
The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.
LifeNationHonestTruthfulOnly
I didn't know I was a slave until I found out I couldn't do the things I wanted.
KnowOutSlaveThingsFoundWanted
Man's greatness consists in his ability to do and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done.
ManGreatnessDoneAbilityThings
There is not a man beneath the canopy of Heaven who does not know that slavery is wrong for him.
ManSlaveryHeavenWrongKnowHim
We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future.
FuturePastPresentUsefulOnly
At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed.
TimeArgumentIronyLikeNeeded
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.
FreedomMenWantWithoutGroundUp
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.
PeopleYouMeasureFindInjustice
One and God make a majority.
GodMajorityMake
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.
FreedomProgressI AmBlackParty
A man's character always takes its hue, more or less, from the form and color of things about him.
CharacterManColorMoreHimAlways
Copyright © 2024 QuotesDict Frederick Douglass quotes