WIST Quotations

Douglass, Frederick -- “A Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston,” speech (9 Dec 1860)

Dave — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 12:58:56 +0000

To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.

Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
“A Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston,” speech (9 Dec 1860)

Douglass, Frederick -- “A Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston,” speech (9 Dec 1860)

Dave — Mon, 12 May 2014 16:11:43 +0000

Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist. That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the right which they first of all strike down. They know its power. Thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, founded in injustice and wrong, are sure to tremble, if men are allowed to reason of righteousness, temperance, and of a judgment to come in their presence.

Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
“A Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston,” speech (9 Dec 1860)
(Source)

Douglass, Frederick -- “A Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston” (9 Dec 1880)

Dave — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 17:15:20 +0000

Equally clear is the right to hear. To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker. It is just as criminal to rob a man of his right to speak and hear as it would be to rob him of his money.

Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
“A Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston” (9 Dec 1880)
(Source)

Douglass, Frederick -- “Reconstruction,” Atlantic (Dec 1866)

Dave — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 13:12:43 +0000

The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion.

Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
“Reconstruction,” Atlantic (Dec 1866)

Douglass, Frederick -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 22:09:51 +0000

I prayed for freedom for twenty years, but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.

Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
(Attributed)

Mentioned frequently as being part of his earlier speeches, but unsourced. Also found as "failed to see the slightest scintillation of an answer until I prayed with my legs."

Douglass, Frederick -- (Spurious)

Dave — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 23:44:01 +0000

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
(Spurious)

This quotation only begins being associated with Douglass in the early 1990s. It may be related to some of his writings, but not clearly. For more information about the quote's origins and associations see Happy 200th Birthday to Frederick Douglass.

Douglass, Frederick -- Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881)

Dave — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:30:24 +0000

You are not judged by the height you have risen, but from the depth you have climbed.

Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881)

Douglass, Frederick -- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Appendix (1845)

Dave — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 17:51:28 +0000

I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels.

Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Appendix (1845)
(Source)

Douglass, Frederick -- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, ch. 6 [Mr. Auld] (1845)

Dave — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 22:09:38 +0000

“If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master — to do as he is told to do. Learning will spoil the best nigger in the world. Now, if you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy.”

Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, ch. 6 [Mr. Auld] (1845)
(Source)

Quoting his master, Auld, chastising Mrs. Auld for teaching Douglass to read. Frequently paraphrased down to "Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave."

Douglass, Frederick -- Letter to Gerrit Smith (30 Mar 1849)

Dave — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:32:46 +0000

Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will.

Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
Letter to Gerrit Smith (30 Mar 1849)

Douglass, Frederick -- Speech (1852-07-05), “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New York

Dave — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 12:48:29 +0000

The 4th of July is the first great fact in your nation’s history — the very ring-bolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped destiny. Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nation’s destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost.