--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The slave child had no thought for the…" description: "\"The slave child had no thought for the morrow; but there came that blight, which too surely waits on every human being born to be a chattel.\" — Harriet..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0e/harriet-ann-jacobs-11125_blight_the-slave-child-had-no-thought-for-the-m_2175957.png" --- # The slave child had no thought for the morrow; but there… ![“The slave child had no thought for the morrow; but there came that blight, which too surely waits on every human being born to be a chattel.” quote by Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0e/harriet-ann-jacobs-11125_blight_the-slave-child-had-no-thought-for-the-m_2175957.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0e/harriet-ann-jacobs-11125_blight_the-slave-child-had-no-thought-for-the-m_2175957.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0e/harriet-ann-jacobs-11125_blight_the-slave-child-had-no-thought-for-the-m_2175957.png) > “The slave child had no thought for the morrow; but there came that blight, which too surely waits on every human being born to be a chattel.” [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on the inevitability of oppression for those born into slavery, highlighting a looming, unavoidable hardship. **In simple terms:** Slavery imposes inevitable suffering on its victims. Key Takeaway Recognize and resist systemic oppression wherever it exists. Themes oppression inevitability human rights Mood somber reflective Type historical political When to use this quote - historical analysis - civil rights activism - education on slavery Key Concepts slavery systemic injustice Questions to Reflect On - How does acknowledging inevitability affect resistance? - What forms of agency can exist under extreme oppression? A Different Perspective The quote may overlook individual agency and resistance within oppressive systems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Slave girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave-girl/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) ## Related quotes > [I was born a slave-was the child of slave parents-therefore I came upon the earth free in God-like thought, but fettered in action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-keckley/i-was-born-a-slave-was-the-child-of-slave-parents-therefore-i-came/) [Elizabeth Keckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-keckley/) > [To see the Law by Christ fulfilled, And hear His pardoning voice Changes a slave into a child, And duty into choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-see-the-law-by-christ-fulfilled-and-hear-his-pardoning-voice/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [But I now entered on my fifteenth year - a sad epoch in the life of a slave girl. My master began to whisper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/but-i-now-entered-on-my-fifteenth-year-a-sad-epoch-in-the-life-of-a/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [“But to the slave mother New Year's day comes laden with peculiar sorrows. She sits on her cold cabin floor, watching the children who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/but-to-the-slave-mother-new-year-s-day-comes-laden-with-peculiar-2/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [The slave girl is reared in an atmosphere of licentiousness and fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/the-slave-girl-is-reared-in-an-atmosphere-of-licentiousness-and-fear/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [“Well, then, let's make a deal. I'll be your slave girl. You can dress me your way, and I'll do anything you say, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eden-connor/well-then-let-s-make-a-deal-i-ll-be-your-slave-girl-you-can-dress-me/) [Eden Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eden-connor/) > [“Get to your dusting, slave-girl. We vacationing men will take over the sleuthing!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-campbell/get-to-your-dusting-slave-girl-we-vacationing-men-will-take-over-the/) [Julie Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-campbell/) > [There is yet no ethic dealing with man's relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it. Land, like Odysseus'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldo-leopold/there-is-yet-no-ethic-dealing-with-man-s-relation-to-land-and-to-the/) [Aldo Leopold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldo-leopold/) > [“He returned her love. He lusted after her sweet young body. He wanted her the way he wanted to breathe the spring air. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-m-greeley/he-returned-her-love-he-lusted-after-her-sweet-young-body-he-wanted/) [Andrew M. Greeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-m-greeley/) > [It's fair to say that there's something retrograde about putting the leader of Star Wars rebellion in the position of "slave in a bikini."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cass-sunstein/it-s-fair-to-say-that-there-s-something-retrograde-about-putting-the/) [Cass Sunstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cass-sunstein/) > [ I read slave narratives, books like Bullwhip Days, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. \[The Root's chairman\] Henry Louis Gates has an… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jurnee-smollett/i-read-slave-narratives-books-like-bullwhip-days-incidents-in-the/) [Jurnee Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jurnee-smollett/) > [As with cows, mares, female camels, slave girls, buffalo cows, she goats, and ewes, it is not the begetter ,or his owner who obtains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guru-nanak/as-with-cows-mares-female-camels-slave-girls-buffalo-cows-she-goats/) [Guru Nanak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guru-nanak/) > [Some of the guys in the Northern Alliance are war criminals. One of the Northern Alliance commanders ran a slave girl network in Kabul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fisk/some-of-the-guys-in-the-northern-alliance-are-war-criminals-one-of/) [Robert Fisk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fisk/) > [There's nothing funny about, 'Yeah, I took a First Class plane ticket and I went to some designer beach and made out with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/there-s-nothing-funny-about-yeah-i-took-a-first-class-plane-ticket/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [A wise word is more rare than the green emerald, and one can find the word of wisdom even amongst the slave girls making…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-de-angelis/a-wise-word-is-more-rare-than-the-green-emerald-and-one-can-find-the/) [Barbara De Angelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-de-angelis/) ## More by Harriet Ann Jacobs > [There must be sophistry in all this; but the condition of a slave confuses all principles of morality, and, in fact, renders the practice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/there-must-be-sophistry-in-all-this-but-the-condition-of-a-slave/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [“Who can blame slaves for being cunning? They are constantly compelled to resort to it. It is the only weapon of the weak and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/who-can-blame-slaves-for-being-cunning-they-are-constantly-compelled/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [“It was a grand opportunity for the low whites, who had no negroes of their own to scourge. They exulted in such a chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/it-was-a-grand-opportunity-for-the-low-whites-who-had-no-negroes-of/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [“I remained abroad ten months, which was much longer than I had anticipated. During all that time, I never saw the slightest symptom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/i-remained-abroad-ten-months-which-was-much-longer-than-i-had/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [But I now entered on my fifteenth year - a sad epoch in the life of a slave girl. My master began to whisper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/but-i-now-entered-on-my-fifteenth-year-a-sad-epoch-in-the-life-of-a/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [For years, my master had done his utmost to pollute my mind with foul images, and to destroy the pure principles inculcated by my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/for-years-my-master-had-done-his-utmost-to-pollute-my-mind-with-foul/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [“Several years after, he passed through our town and preached to his former congregation. In his afternoon sermon he addressed the colored people. 'My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/several-years-after-he-passed-through-our-town-and-preached-to-his/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [Cruelty is contagious in uncivilized communities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/cruelty-is-contagious-in-uncivilized-communities/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [“Are doctors of divinity blind or are they hypocrites?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/are-doctors-of-divinity-blind-or-are-they-hypocrites/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [I WAS born a slave; but I never knew it till six years of happy childhood had passed away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/i-was-born-a-slave-but-i-never-knew-it-till-six-years-of-happy/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [There are wrongs which even the grave does not bury.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/there-are-wrongs-which-even-the-grave-does-not-bury/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [I can testify, from my own experience and observation, that slavery is a curse to the whites as well as to the blacks. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/i-can-testify-from-my-own-experience-and-observation-that-slavery-is/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [I was ordered to go for flowers, that my mistress's house might be decorated for an evening party. I spent the day gathering flowers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/i-was-ordered-to-go-for-flowers-that-my-mistress-s-house-might-be/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [Notwithstanding my grandmother's long and faithful service to her owners, not one of her children escaped the auction block. These God-breathing machines are no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/notwithstanding-my-grandmother-s-long-and-faithful-service-to-her/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [Hot weather brings out snakes and slaveholders, and I like one class of the venomous creatures as little as I do the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/hot-weather-brings-out-snakes-and-slaveholders-and-i-like-one-class/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) [Explore all 51 Harriet Ann Jacobs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) ## More Blight quotes > [Textbooks, it seems to me, are enemies of education, instruments for promoting dogmatism and trivial learning. They may save the teacher some trouble, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/textbooks-it-seems-to-me-are-enemies-of-education-instruments-for/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [Do not cringe and make yourself small if you are called the black sheep, the maverick, the lone wolf. Those with slow seeing say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/do-not-cringe-and-make-yourself-small-if-you-are-called-the-black/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [These monster cities we live in today are blights of modern society. They will certainly give way to planned cities interlinked to the countryside.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-p-cannon/these-monster-cities-we-live-in-today-are-blights-of-modern-society/) [James P. Cannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-p-cannon/) > [Are some free fonts a gift to humanity rather than a blight on typographic civilization ?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-lupton/are-some-free-fonts-a-gift-to-humanity-rather-than-a-blight-on/) [Ellen Lupton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-lupton/) > [“John Mitchel’s famous declaration that God sent the blight but the English created the Famine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-pat-coogan/john-mitchel-s-famous-declaration-that-god-sent-the-blight-but-the/) Tim Pat Coogan > [Humans have grown like a cancer. We're the biggest blight on the face of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/humans-have-grown-like-a-cancer-we-re-the-biggest-blight-on-the-face/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [It is ever so with the things that Men begin: there is a frost in Spring, or a blight in Summer, and they fail…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/it-is-ever-so-with-the-things-that-men-begin-there-is-a-frost-in/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [There's a segment of this world, there's a mind state that's permeated the intellectual consciousness of this world that comes from a certain type…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/el-p/there-s-a-segment-of-this-world-there-s-a-mind-state-that-s-permeated/) [El-P](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/el-p/) > [The blight of futility that lies in wait for men's speeches had fallen upon our conversation and made it a thing of empty sounds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-blight-of-futility-that-lies-in-wait-for-men-s-speeches-had/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/once-to-every-man-and-nation-comes-the-moment-to-decide/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [Long time a child, and still a child, when years Had painted manhood on my cheek, was I; For yet I lived like one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/long-time-a-child-and-still-a-child-when-years-had-painted-manhood-on/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [As frost to the bud, and blight to the blossom, even such is self-interest to friendship; for confidence cannot dwell where selfishness is porter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-farquhar-tupper/as-frost-to-the-bud-and-blight-to-the-blossom-even-such-is-self/) [Martin Farquhar Tupper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-farquhar-tupper/) > [So: if the chronic inflation undergone by Americans, and in almost every other country, is caused by the continuing creation of new money, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/so-if-the-chronic-inflation-undergone-by-americans-and-in-almost/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [How unthinkable that, in a country of such bursting plenty, so many people are facing ongoing hunger and poverty. If we are truly each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-raitt/how-unthinkable-that-in-a-country-of-such-bursting-plenty-so-many/) [Bonnie Raitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-raitt/) > [All things with which we deal preach to us. What is a farm but a mute gospel? The chaff and the wheat, weeds and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-things-with-which-we-deal-preach-to-us-what-is-a-farm-but-a-mute/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) Browse all 88 Blight quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The slave child had no thought for the morrow; but there came that blight, which too surely waits on every human being born to be a chattel.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Harriet Ann Jacobs" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/the-slave-child-had-no-thought-for-the-morrow-but-there-came-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Blight" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/the-slave-child-had-no-thought-for-the-morrow-but-there-came-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0e/harriet-ann-jacobs-11125_blight_the-slave-child-had-no-thought-for-the-m_2175957.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0e/harriet-ann-jacobs-11125_blight_the-slave-child-had-no-thought-for-the-m_2175957.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0e/harriet-ann-jacobs-11125_blight_the-slave-child-had-no-thought-for-the-m_2175957.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The slave child had no thought for the morrow; but there came that blight, which too surely waits on every…” — Harriet Ann Jacobs", "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": "Harriet Ann Jacobs", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The slave child had no thought...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/the-slave-child-had-no-thought-for-the-morrow-but-there-came-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/the-slave-child-had-no-thought-for-the-morrow-but-there-came-that/#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 } } ] } ```