--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What great interval is there between him…" description: "\"What great interval is there between him who is caught in Africa and made a plantation slave of in the South, and him who is caught in New England and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/henry-david-thoreau-20_caught_what-great-interval-is-there-between-him_2443267.jpg" --- # What great interval is there between him who is caught in… ![“What great interval is there between him who is caught in Africa and made a plantation slave of in the South, and him who is caught in New England and made a Unitarian minister of?” quote by Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/henry-david-thoreau-20_caught_what-great-interval-is-there-between-him_2443267.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/henry-david-thoreau-20_caught_what-great-interval-is-there-between-him_2443267.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/henry-david-thoreau-20_caught_what-great-interval-is-there-between-him_2443267.jpg) > “What great interval is there between him who is caught in Africa and made a plantation slave of in the South, and him who is caught in New England and made a Unitarian minister of?” [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Contrasting the oppression of enslaved Africans with the moral authority of Northern clergy. **In simple terms:** Different oppression forms. Key Takeaway Recognize varied injustices. Themes justice freedom hypocrisy Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type historical critical When to use this quote - education - activism - historical analysis Key Concepts moral authority systemic oppression Questions to Reflect On - How do we reconcile moral authority with systemic injustice? - What responsibilities do privileged groups have? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex histories. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Caught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caught/) [England](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/england/) [England Unitarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/england-unitarian-506275/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Intervals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intervals/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Ministers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ministers/) [New england](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-england/) [Plantation Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plantation-slave-506272/) [Plantations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plantations/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Slave South](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave-south-506274/) [South](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/south/) [Unitarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unitarian/) [Unitarian Minister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unitarian-minister-506273/) ## Related quotes > [ Dr. Calder \[a Unitarian minister\] said of Dr. \[Samuel\] Johnson on the publications of Boswell and Mrs. Piozzi, that he was like Actaeon, torn… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-walpole/dr-calder-a-unitarian-minister-said-of-dr-samuel-johnson-on-the/) [Horace Walpole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-walpole/) > [There is a terrible war coming, and these young men who have never seen war cannot wait for it to happen, but I tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-lee/there-is-a-terrible-war-coming-and-these-young-men-who-have-never/) [Robert E. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-lee/) > [The Musketaquid, or Grass-ground River, though probably as old as the Nile or Euphrates, did not begin to have a place in civilized history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-musketaquid-or-grass-ground-river-though-probably-as-old-as-the/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“Dag insists that all dogs secretly speak the English language and subscribe to the morals and beliefs of the Unitarian church...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/dag-insists-that-all-dogs-secretly-speak-the-english-language-and/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [I trust there is not a young man now living in the United States who will not die a Unitarian.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-trust-there-is-not-a-young-man-now-living-in-the-united-states-who/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“The church, which squatted among the headstones like a wet mother dodo, had been at various times Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Unitarian, and Universally Apocalyptic. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/the-church-which-squatted-among-the-headstones-like-a-wet-mother-dodo/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“The feeling was less like chemical intoxication than being drunk on life. Spinning round and round, he experienced absolute bliss— unadulterated and unconfined—in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-luckman/the-feeling-was-less-like-chemical-intoxication-than-being-drunk-on/) [Sol Luckman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-luckman/) > [Now let's take up the minorities in our civilisation, shall we? Bigger the population, the more minorities. Don't step on the toes of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/now-let-s-take-up-the-minorities-in-our-civilisation-shall-we-bigger/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [ As \[The Nation columnist Katha\] Pollitt points out, when one starts looking beneath the surface of things and adding together the out-front atheists with… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-angier/as-the-nation-columnist-katha-pollitt-points-out-when-one-starts/) [Natalie Angier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-angier/) > [A Unitarian is a person who believes in at most one God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/a-unitarian-is-a-person-who-believes-in-at-most-one-god/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [My family for several generations have been members of the Unitarian Church.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leverett-saltonstall/my-family-for-several-generations-have-been-members-of-the-unitarian/) [Leverett Saltonstall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leverett-saltonstall/) > [Manly natural religion - it is not joining the Church; it is not to believe in a creed, Hebrew, Protestant, Catholic, Trinitarian, Unitarian, Nothingarian.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/manly-natural-religion-it-is-not-joining-the-church-it-is-not-to/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [ ...\[T\]oday's Washington is about as attentive to the Tenth Amendment as the Unitarian Church is to the Book of Revelation. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/t-oday-s-washington-is-about-as-attentive-to-the-tenth-amendment-as/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [ “He \[Erasmus Darwin\] used to say that 'unitarianism was a feather-bed to catch a falling Christian.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/he-erasmus-darwin-used-to-say-that-unitarianism-was-a-feather-bed-to/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [I was raised Unitarian, and my mother said she took us to church so that we wouldn't get religious later in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/i-was-raised-unitarian-and-my-mother-said-she-took-us-to-church-so/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) ## More by Henry David Thoreau > [If ever I did a man any goodof course it was something exceptional and insignificant compared with the good or evil which I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-ever-i-did-a-man-any-goodof-course-it-was-something-exceptional/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. 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Moreover I have tried it fairly and, strange as it may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/as-for-doing-good-that-is-one-of-the-professions-which-is-full/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [A traveler who looks at things with an impartial eye may see what the oldest inhabitant has not observed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-traveler-who-looks-at-things-with-an-impartial-eye-may-see-what-the/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/in-proportion-as-our-inward-life-fails-we-go-more-constantly-and/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-had-three-chairs-in-my-house-one-for-solitude-two-for-friendship/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The still youthful energies of the globe have only to be directed in their proper channel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-still-youthful-energies-of-the-globe-have-only-to-be-directed-in/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Concord's little arch does not span all our fate, nor is what transpires under it law for the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/concord-s-little-arch-does-not-span-all-our-fate-nor-is-what/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The lumberers rarely trouble themselves to put out their fires, such is the dampness of the primitive forest; and this is one cause, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-lumberers-rarely-trouble-themselves-to-put-out-their-fires-such/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“When he has obtained those things which are necessary to life, there is another alternative than to obtain the superfluities; and that is, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/when-he-has-obtained-those-things-which-are-necessary-to-life-there/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Wealth is measured by the level of experience in all aspects of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/wealth-is-measured-by-the-level-of-experience-in-all-aspects-of-life/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) [Explore all 3,376 Henry David Thoreau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## More Caught quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [Hollywood is very much an industry town. Your life becomes caught up in all of the parties and this list and that list. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-johnson/hollywood-is-very-much-an-industry-town-your-life-becomes-caught-up/) [Don Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-johnson/) > [I'd always have grease in at least two places, in case the umpires would ask me to wipe one off. I never wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaylord-perry/i-d-always-have-grease-in-at-least-two-places-in-case-the-umpires/) [Gaylord Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaylord-perry/) > [Merkel has realized that the euro is not working, but she cannot change the narrative she has created because that narrative has caught the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/merkel-has-realized-that-the-euro-is-not-working-but-she-cannot/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Sam reached his hand toward mine and I automatically put my fingers in his. With a guilty little smile he pulled my hand toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/sam-reached-his-hand-toward-mine-and-i-automatically-put-my-fingers/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [I never caught on to being a bully.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-nolte/i-never-caught-on-to-being-a-bully/) [Nick Nolte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-nolte/) > [“I caught you!" he beamed. "See, girls really do throw themselves at me. Hey, guys!" 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