--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Slavery is ...an atrocious debasement of…" description: "\"Slavery is ...an atrocious debasement of human nature.\" — Benjamin Franklin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65c/benjamin-franklin-65_human-nature_slavery-is-an-atrocious-debasement-of-hu_1094873.png" --- # Slavery is ...an atrocious debasement of human nature. ![“Slavery is ...an atrocious debasement of human nature.” quote by Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65c/benjamin-franklin-65_human-nature_slavery-is-an-atrocious-debasement-of-hu_1094873.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65c/benjamin-franklin-65_human-nature_slavery-is-an-atrocious-debasement-of-hu_1094873.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65c/benjamin-franklin-65_human-nature_slavery-is-an-atrocious-debasement-of-hu_1094873.png) > “Slavery is ...an atrocious debasement of human nature.” [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Slavery degrades humanity, stripping individuals of dignity and moral worth. **In simple terms:** Slavery is a grave moral crime. Key Takeaway Reject oppression. Themes human rights morality justice Mood somber determined Type ethical activist When to use this quote - social reform - education - policy making Key Concepts ethical philosophy human dignity Questions to Reflect On - What steps can we take to restore dignity? - How do we prevent new forms of dehumanization? A Different Perspective Abolition alone does not heal lasting trauma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) ## Related quotes > [Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that its very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may sometimes open a source…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/slavery-is-such-an-atrocious-debasement-of-human-nature-that-its-very/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that its very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may sometimes open a source…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/slavery-is-such-an-atrocious-debasement-of-human-nature-that-its-very-2/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [It is pretty obvious that the debasement of the human mind caused by a constant flow of fraudulent advertising is no trivial thing. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/it-is-pretty-obvious-that-the-debasement-of-the-human-mind-caused-by/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Gold is a relic from a time when government's were less trustworthy in these matters (currency debasement) than they are now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/gold-is-a-relic-from-a-time-when-government-s-were-less-trustworthy/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [“Debasement? Yes, I write about debasement. I write about a lot of nasty things: obsession, violence, sex, religion, politics, death, and mental illness, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/debasement-yes-i-write-about-debasement-i-write-about-a-lot-of-nasty/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Debasement was limited at first to one’s own territory. It was then found that one could do better by taking bad coins across the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-p-kindleberger/debasement-was-limited-at-first-to-one-s-own-territory-it-was-then/) [Charles P. Kindleberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-p-kindleberger/) > [“the debasement of thought cannot be separated from the debasement of language.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-debasement-of-thought-cannot-be-separated-from-the-debasement-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Why does everybody think that women are debasing themselves when we expose the conditions of our debasement?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/why-does-everybody-think-that-women-are-debasing-themselves-when-we/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [Human nature is full of riddles; . . . one of those riddles is: how is it that people who have been crushed by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/human-nature-is-full-of-riddles-one-of-those-riddles-is-how-is-it/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Slavery, if it can be legalized at all, can be legalized only by positive legislation. Natural law gives it no aid. Custom imparts to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/slavery-if-it-can-be-legalized-at-all-can-be-legalized-only-by/) [Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/) > [My favorite Founding Fathers, Christians like John Adams, were absolutely appalled by slavery, and did not own slaves. I think we're going to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/my-favorite-founding-fathers-christians-like-john-adams-were/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [Can you look forward to the future of our country and imagine any state of things in which, with slavery still existing, we should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dale-owen/can-you-look-forward-to-the-future-of-our-country-and-imagine-any/) [Robert Dale Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dale-owen/) > [Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/single-acts-of-tyranny-may-be-ascribed-to-the-accidental-opinion-of-a/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) > [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/) ## More by Benjamin Franklin > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Think of these things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/think-of-these-things-whence-you-came-where-you-are-going-and-to-whom/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Give me 26 lead soldiers and I will conquer the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/give-me-26-lead-soldiers-and-i-will-conquer-the-world/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Flowers are the alphabet of angels, whereby they write on the hills and fields mysterious truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/flowers-are-the-alphabet-of-angels-whereby-they-write-on-the-hills/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [In the affairs of this world, men are saved not by faith, but by the want of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/in-the-affairs-of-this-world-men-are-saved-not-by-faith-but-by-the/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [By heaven we understand a state of happiness infinite in degree, and endless in duration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/by-heaven-we-understand-a-state-of-happiness-infinite-in-degree-and/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [I have thought that wild flowers might be the alphabet of angels, — whereby they write on hills and fields mysterious truths, which it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/i-have-thought-that-wild-flowers-might-be-the-alphabet-of-angels/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [How do you become better tomorrow? By improving yourself, the world is made better. Be not afraid of growing too slowly. Be afraid of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/how-do-you-become-better-tomorrow-by-improving-yourself-the-world-is/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Little leaks sink the ship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/little-leaks-sink-the-ship/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/who-is-rich-he-that-is-content-who-is-that-nobody/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“But on the whole, though I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/but-on-the-whole-though-i-never-arrived-at-the-perfection-i-had-been/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [The good particular men may do separately, in relieving the sick, is small, compared with what they may do collectively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/the-good-particular-men-may-do-separately-in-relieving-the-sick-is/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Love your Neighbour; yet don't pull down your Hedge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/love-your-neighbour-yet-don-t-pull-down-your-hedge/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Take counsel in wine, but resolve afterwards in water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/take-counsel-in-wine-but-resolve-afterwards-in-water/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [He that's secure is not safe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/he-that-s-secure-is-not-safe/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) [Explore all 1,692 Benjamin Franklin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) ## More Human nature quotes > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“The aristocratic interiority is centered on the higher mind, the mens, the ajna chakra, the seat of intellect and intuition that commands the lower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-evola/the-aristocratic-interiority-is-centered-on-the-higher-mind-the-mens/) [Julius Evola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-evola/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [Selfishness is one of the principal fruits of the corruption of human nature; and it is obvious that selfishness disposes us to over-rate our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wilberforce/selfishness-is-one-of-the-principal-fruits-of-the-corruption-of-human/) [William Wilberforce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wilberforce/) > [Though there may be people in your life that support you and encourage you we have to realize that people are only human, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/though-there-may-be-people-in-your-life-that-support-you-and/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [“I wasn't sure which I appreciated less—the insincere concern or the genuine indifference.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-graham/i-wasn-t-sure-which-i-appreciated-less-the-insincere-concern-or-the/) Arthur Graham > [Time is the nervous system of narration, whether factual or fictive. If it gets confused some of the minutiae of human nature are certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenway-wescott/time-is-the-nervous-system-of-narration-whether-factual-or-fictive-if/) [Glenway Wescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenway-wescott/) > [“As if we didn't have enough weapons already. But that's human nature, we've always got to go one better, to increase the terror another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-f-hamilton/as-if-we-didn-t-have-enough-weapons-already-but-that-s-human-nature/) [Peter F. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-f-hamilton/) > [ \[Putin\] is a bully. And bullies only understand when we punch them in the nose, but we need to do that economically. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ayotte/putin-is-a-bully-and-bullies-only-understand-when-we-punch-them-in/) [Kelly Ayotte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ayotte/) > [“The mass of men have been forced to be gay about the little things, but sad about the big ones. Nevertheless (I offer my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/the-mass-of-men-have-been-forced-to-be-gay-about-the-little-things/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) [Browse all 3,743 Human nature quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Slavery is ...an atrocious debasement of human nature.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Benjamin Franklin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/slavery-is-an-atrocious-debasement-of-human-nature/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Human nature" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/slavery-is-an-atrocious-debasement-of-human-nature/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65c/benjamin-franklin-65_human-nature_slavery-is-an-atrocious-debasement-of-hu_1094873.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65c/benjamin-franklin-65_human-nature_slavery-is-an-atrocious-debasement-of-hu_1094873.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65c/benjamin-franklin-65_human-nature_slavery-is-an-atrocious-debasement-of-hu_1094873.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Slavery is ...an atrocious debasement of human nature.” — Benjamin Franklin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Benjamin Franklin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Slavery is ...an atrocious debasement of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/slavery-is-an-atrocious-debasement-of-human-nature/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/slavery-is-an-atrocious-debasement-of-human-nature/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```