Frederick Douglass was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman.
Born: February 1818, Talbot County, Maryland, United States
Died: February 20, 1895, Washington, D.C., United States
Without a struggle, there can be no progress.
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.
I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.
People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.
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.
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.
I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.
The man who is right is a majority. We, who have God and conscience on our side, have a majority against the universe.
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.
A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me.
Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.
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.
If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
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.
The man who is right is a majority. We, who have God and conscience on our side, have a majority against the universe.
To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.
The soul that is within me no man can degrade.
