You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.Frederick Douglass
The white man's happiness cannot be purchased by the black man's misery.Frederick Douglass
I asserted my manhood, in spite, I may say, because of the whole world.Frederick Douglass
I have often been awakened at the dawn of day by the most heart-rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood.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 incur my own abhorrence.Frederick Douglass
I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only increased my desire to be free, and set me to thinking of plans to gain my freedom.Frederick Douglass
I have often wished myself a beast. I preferred the condition of the meanest reptile to my own. Anything, no matter what, to get rid of thinking!Frederick Douglass
You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.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
The silver trump of freedom had roused my soul to eternal wakefulness. Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever. It was heard in every sound, and seen in every thing. It was ever present to torment me with a sense of my wretched condition.Frederick Douglass