The quotations of

Frederick Douglass

African-American social reformer, writer, and abolitionist

1817–1895

23 quotes, most often on Freedom, Slavery and America.

Where there is seeming contentment with slavery, there is certain treachery to freedom.
The Heroic Slave (1853), Madison Washington
- Freedom
- Slavery
To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.
A Plea For Free Speech in Boston (10 December 1860), as contained in Words That Changed America, Alex Barnett, Rowman & Littlefield (reprint, 2006), p. 156
- Freedom
- Talking
You cannot write the bloody laws of slavery on those restless billows. The ocean, if not the land, is free.
The Heroic Slave (1853), Madison Washington
- Freedom
- Slavery
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.
West India Emancipation (If There Is No Struggle, There Is No Progress) (1857)
- Change
- Freedom
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.
West India Emancipation (If There Is No Struggle, There Is No Progress) (1857)
- Freedom
- Power
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.
West India Emancipation (If There Is No Struggle, There Is No Progress) (1857)
Men may not get all they pay for in this world, but they must certainly pay for all they get.
West India Emancipation (If There Is No Struggle, There Is No Progress) (1857)
- Freedom
- Wisdom
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.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845), Chapter VIIIn context
- Freedom
- Slavery
You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845), Chapter XIn context
- Freedom
- Slavery

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