For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm,… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
If we would reach a degree of civilization higher and grander than any yet attained, we should welcome to our ample continent… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
I have one great political idea. . . . That idea is an old one. It is widely and generally assented to;… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all of the monarchies and despotisms of the old world, travel through… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
Your national greatness, swelling vanity; your denunciation of tyrants, brass-fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
The 4th of July is the first great fact in your nation's history — the very ring-bolt in the chain of your… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
In a composite Nation like ours, made up of almost every variety of the human family, there should be, as before the… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
Vainly you talk about voting it down. When you have cast your millions of ballots, you have not reached the evil. It… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
“A treacherous President stood in the way; and it can be easily seen how reluctant good men might be to admit an apostasy which… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
“But I should be false in the earliest sentiments of my soul, if I suppressed the opinion. I prefer to be true to myself,… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
A man who will enslave his own blood, may not be safely relied on for magnamity. — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
“I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes, - a justifier of the… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the South is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes—a justifier of the most appalling… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose. — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
“We have all met a class of men, very remarkable for their activity, and who yet make but little headway in life; men who,… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
“The fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the influence of… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as… — Frederick Douglass Copy Share Image
