--- title: "4 Single word Quotes By Frederick Douglass" description: "4 Single word quotes by Frederick Douglass. Plus more from Frederick Douglass and more Single word sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8d/frederick-douglass-859_grandmother_she-had-been-the-source-of-all-his-wealt_439723.png" --- > [“She had been the source of all his wealth; she had peopled his plantation with slaves; she had become a great grandmother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/she-had-been-the-source-of-all-his-wealth-she-had-peopled-his/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8d/frederick-douglass-859_grandmother_she-had-been-the-source-of-all-his-wealt_439723.png) > [“their base ingratitude to my poor old grandmother. She had served my old master faithfully from youth to old age. She had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/their-base-ingratitude-to-my-poor-old-grandmother-she-had-served-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1da/frederick-douglass-859_children_their-base-ingratitude-to-my-poor-old-gr_1166863.jpg) > [The American Constitution is a written instrument full and complete in itself. No Court in America, no Congress, no President, can add…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/the-american-constitution-is-a-written-instrument-full-and-complete/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/651/frederick-douglass-859_add_the-american-constitution-is-a-written-i_1461118.jpg) > [“If any one thing in my experience, more than another, served to deepen my conviction of the infernal character of slavery, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/if-any-one-thing-in-my-experience-more-than-another-served-to-deepen/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/469/frederick-douglass-859_faith_if-any-one-thing-in-my-experience-more-t_1521762.jpg) ## Other authors on Single word ## More by Frederick Douglass > [“A treacherous President stood in the way; and it can be easily seen how reluctant good men might be to admit an apostasy which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/a-treacherous-president-stood-in-the-way-and-it-can-be-easily-seen/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“But I should be false in the earliest sentiments of my soul, if I suppressed the opinion. I prefer to be true to myself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/but-i-should-be-false-in-the-earliest-sentiments-of-my-soul-if-i/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [A man who will enslave his own blood, may not be safely relied on for magnamity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/a-man-who-will-enslave-his-own-blood-may-not-be-safely-relied-on-for/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes, - a justifier of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-assert-most-unhesitatingly-that-the-religion-of-the-south-is-a-mere/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-assert-most-unhesitatingly-that-the-religion-of-the-south-is-a-mere-2/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/the-limits-of-tyrants-are-prescribed-by-the-endurance-of-those-whom/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/power-concedes-nothing-without-a-demand-it-never-did-and-it-never-will/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“We have all met a class of men, very remarkable for their activity, and who yet make but little headway in life; men who,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/we-have-all-met-a-class-of-men-very-remarkable-for-their-activity-and/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“The fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the influence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/the-fatal-poison-of-irresponsible-power-was-already-in-her-hands-and/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/a-battle-lost-or-won-is-easily-described-understood-and-appreciated/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/knowledge-makes-a-man-unfit-to-be-a-slave/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-was-broken-in-body-soul-and-spirit-my-natural-elasticity-was/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, that whenever my condition was improved, instead of increasing my contentment; it only increased my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my-2/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/at-a-time-like-this-scorching-irony-not-convincing-argument-is-needed/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/single-word/frederick-douglass/#itemlist", "name": "4 Single word Quotes By Frederick Douglass", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“She had been the source of all his wealth; she had peopled his plantation with slaves; she had become a great grandmother in his service. She had rocked him in infancy, attended him in childhood, served him through life, and at his death wiped from his icy brow the cold death-sweat, and closed his eyes forever. 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She had served my old master faithfully from youth to old age. She had been the source of all his wealth; she had peopled his plantation with slaves; she had become a great grandmother in his service. She had rocked him in infancy, attended him in childhood, served him through life, and at his death wiped from his icy brow the cold death-sweat, and closed his eyes forever. She was nevertheless left a slave—a slave for life—a slave in the hands of strangers; and in their hands she saw her children, her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren, divided, like so many sheep, without being gratified with the small privilege of a single word, as to their or her own destiny. And, to cap the climax of their base ingratitude and fiendish barbarity, my grandmother, who was now very old, having outlived my old master and all his children, having seen the beginning and end of all of them, and her present owners finding she was of but little value, her frame already racked with the pains of old age, and complete helplessness fast stealing over her once active limbs, they took her to the woods, built her a little hut, put up a little mud-chimney, and then made her welcome to the privilege of supporting herself there in perfect loneliness; thus virtually turning her out to die! If my poor old grandmother now lives, she lives to suffer in utter loneliness; she lives to remember and mourn over the loss of children, the loss of grandchildren, and the loss of great-grandchildren. They are, in the language of the slave’s poet, Whittier,— “Gone, gone, sold and gone To the rice swamp dank and lone, Where the slave-whip ceaseless swings, Where the noisome insect stings, Where the fever-demon strews Poison with the falling dews, Where the sickly sunbeams glare Through the hot and misty air:— Gone, gone, sold and gone To the rice swamp dank and lone, From Virginia hills and waters— Woe is me, my stolen daughters!”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frederick Douglass" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/their-base-ingratitude-to-my-poor-old-grandmother-she-had-served-my/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1da/frederick-douglass-859_children_their-base-ingratitude-to-my-poor-old-gr_1166863.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1da/frederick-douglass-859_children_their-base-ingratitude-to-my-poor-old-gr_1166863.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1da/frederick-douglass-859_children_their-base-ingratitude-to-my-poor-old-gr_1166863.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“their base ingratitude to my poor old grandmother. 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It is a great national enactment done by the people, and can only be altered, amended, or added to by the people.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frederick Douglass" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/the-american-constitution-is-a-written-instrument-full-and-complete/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/651/frederick-douglass-859_add_the-american-constitution-is-a-written-i_1461118.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/651/frederick-douglass-859_add_the-american-constitution-is-a-written-i_1461118.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/651/frederick-douglass-859_add_the-american-constitution-is-a-written-i_1461118.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The American Constitution is a written instrument full and complete in itself. 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