--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They [slaves] have stabbed themselves for…" description: "\"They [slaves] have stabbed themselves for freedom-jumped into the waves for freedom-starved for freedom-fought like very tigers for freedom! But they h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57b/lydia-m-child-9261_burned_they-slaves-have-stabbed-themselves-for_1319174.png" --- # They \[slaves\] have stabbed themselves for freedom-jumped… ![“They [slaves] have stabbed themselves for freedom-jumped into the waves for freedom-starved for freedom-fought like very tigers for freedom! But they have been hung, and burned, and shot-and their tyrants have been their historians!” quote by Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57b/lydia-m-child-9261_burned_they-slaves-have-stabbed-themselves-for_1319174.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57b/lydia-m-child-9261_burned_they-slaves-have-stabbed-themselves-for_1319174.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57b/lydia-m-child-9261_burned_they-slaves-have-stabbed-themselves-for_1319174.png) > “They \[slaves\] have stabbed themselves for freedom-jumped into the waves for freedom-starved for freedom-fought like very tigers for freedom! But they have been hung, and burned, and shot-and their tyrants have been their historians!” [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) ## 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 condemns the brutal oppression of enslaved people and the manipulation of history by their oppressors. **In simple terms:** Oppression and historical distortion are condemned. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge false narratives. Themes oppression history justice Mood angry determined Type political historical When to use this quote - education reform - museum curation - public memorials - human rights advocacy Key Concepts colonialism memory power dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do we uncover suppressed histories? - What responsibilities do we have to correct them? A Different Perspective Historical accounts can be biased and incomplete. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Diversity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diversity/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Slaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slaves/) [Social justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-justice/) [Tigers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tigers/) [Tyrants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tyrants/) ## Related quotes > [O tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-tiger-s-heart-wrapped-in-a-woman-s-hide/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Everything that I love is behind those gates. We have elephants, and giraffes, and crocodiles, and every kind of tigers and lions. And -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/everything-that-i-love-is-behind-those-gates-we-have-elephants-and/) [Michael Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jackson/) > [A new poll shows that Tiger Woods' popularity has dropped from 85 percent to 33 percent. President Obama's popularity is also at 33 percent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-o-brien/a-new-poll-shows-that-tiger-woods-popularity-has-dropped-from-85/) [Conan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-o-brien/) > [Why could nothing with Kate be simple? Why couldn’t Jim ever just come by to tell me that he had bowled a perfect game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/why-could-nothing-with-kate-be-simple-why-couldn-t-jim-ever-just-come/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [If you stumble over mere believability, what are you living for? Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/if-you-stumble-over-mere-believability-what-are-you-living-for-love/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [Animal totems, like the tiger, come from the Other Side to protect us while we are away from Home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-browne/animal-totems-like-the-tiger-come-from-the-other-side-to-protect-us/) [Sylvia Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-browne/) > [My dream pet? I like a couple of them, man: monkey, I love dogs. See, tigers, I don't know - I can't be playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/french-montana/my-dream-pet-i-like-a-couple-of-them-man-monkey-i-love-dogs-see/) [French Montana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/french-montana/) > [Nothing beats reason for keeping tigers away. 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Don’t hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-hacker/they-ll-be-black-because-that-s-the-way-they-re-seen-barack-obama/) [Andrew Hacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-hacker/) > [In a manner akin to the influence of Tiger Woods on the other side of the Atlantic, Thierry Henry has helped kick down a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-gill/in-a-manner-akin-to-the-influence-of-tiger-woods-on-the-other-side-of/) [Pete Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-gill/) > [USC is the National Champion like Al Gore is the President of the United States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-emmert/usc-is-the-national-champion-like-al-gore-is-the-president-of-the/) [Mark Emmert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-emmert/) > [Love is like a forest where brave tigers are killed by the beautiful eyes of deers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ab/love-is-like-a-forest-where-brave-tigers-are-killed-by-the-beautiful/) AB > [“Most of us are so enthralled with the scary tigers in our minds--our stories of loneliness, rejection, grief--that we don't realize they are in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geneen-roth/most-of-us-are-so-enthralled-with-the-scary-tigers-in-our-minds-our/) [Geneen Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geneen-roth/) > [Our noblest hopes grow teeth and pursue us like tigers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/our-noblest-hopes-grow-teeth-and-pursue-us-like-tigers/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can tell you there is no finer stadium to play in. The traditions that they place in that stadium like when they announce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/les-miles/i-can-tell-you-there-is-no-finer-stadium-to-play-in-the-traditions/) [Les Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/les-miles/) ## More by Lydia M. Child > [Every human being has, like Socrates, an attendant spirit; and wise are they who obey its signals. If it does not always tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/every-human-being-has-like-socrates-an-attendant-spirit-and-wise-are/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [Happiness consists not in having much, but in wanting no more than you have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/happiness-consists-not-in-having-much-but-in-wanting-no-more-than-you/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [Home - that blessed word, which opens to the human heart the most perfect glimpse of Heaven, and helps to carry it thither, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/home-that-blessed-word-which-opens-to-the-human-heart-the-most/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [our republican ideas cannot be consistently carried out while women are excluded from any share in the government. ... Any class of human beings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/our-republican-ideas-cannot-be-consistently-carried-out-while-women/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [The eye of genius has always a plaintive expression, and its natural language is pathos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/the-eye-of-genius-has-always-a-plaintive-expression-and-its-natural/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [I do not know how the affair at Canterbury is generally considered; but I have heard individuals of all parties and all opinions speak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/i-do-not-know-how-the-affair-at-canterbury-is-generally-considered/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [To everything there is a bright side and a dark side; and I hold it to be unwise, unphilosophic, unkind to others, and unhealthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/to-everything-there-is-a-bright-side-and-a-dark-side-and-i-hold-it-to/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [It is right noble to fight with wickedness and wrong; the mistake is in supposing that spiritual evil can be overcome by physical means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/it-is-right-noble-to-fight-with-wickedness-and-wrong-the-mistake-is/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [Misfortune is never mournful to the soul that accepts it; for such do always see that every cloud is an angel's face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/misfortune-is-never-mournful-to-the-soul-that-accepts-it-for-such-do/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [The boughs of no two trees ever have the same arrangement. Nature always produces individuals; She never produces classes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/the-boughs-of-no-two-trees-ever-have-the-same-arrangement-nature/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [In the first place, the government ought not to be invested with power to control the affections, any more than the consciences of citizens.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/in-the-first-place-the-government-ought-not-to-be-invested-with-power/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [That a majority of women do not wish for any important change in their social and civil condition, merely proves that they are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/that-a-majority-of-women-do-not-wish-for-any-important-change-in/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [There was a time when all these things would have passed me by, like the flitting figures of a theatre, sufficient for the amusement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/there-was-a-time-when-all-these-things-would-have-passed-me-by-like/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [That man's best works should be such bungling imitations of Nature's infinite perfection, matters not much; but that he should make himself an imitation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/that-man-s-best-works-should-be-such-bungling-imitations-of-nature-s/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [If we really believed that those who are gone from us were as truly alive as ourselves, we could not invest the subject with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/if-we-really-believed-that-those-who-are-gone-from-us-were-as-truly/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) [Explore all 74 Lydia M. Child quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) ## More Burned quotes > [“my stomach turned and burned with the acid of failure”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-ames/my-stomach-turned-and-burned-with-the-acid-of-failure/) Heidi Ames > [These mercenaries, I swear by God, those who are still in Washington, they have sent their troops to be burned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-saeed-al-sahaf/these-mercenaries-i-swear-by-god-those-who-are-still-in-washington/) [Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-saeed-al-sahaf/) > [Men feared witches and burned women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-d-brandeis/men-feared-witches-and-burned-women/) [Louis D. Brandeis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-d-brandeis/) > [“I knew I didn't have much of a chance of getting away from that swarm of fae piranha, but it was an infinitely larger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/i-knew-i-didn-t-have-much-of-a-chance-of-getting-away-from-that-swarm/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [Truth is error burned up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-o-brown/truth-is-error-burned-up/) [Norman O. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-o-brown/) > [I know I have I have sliced , burned ,bruised wriped at](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slowly-fading/i-know-i-have-i-have-sliced-burned-bruised-wriped-at/) Slowly\_fading > [years ago we would have been burned for this. Now what I am suggesting is that we've advanced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleese/years-ago-we-would-have-been-burned-for-this-now-what-i-am-suggesting/) [John Cleese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleese/) > [The life of men and women is so cheap and property is so sacred. There are so many of us for one job it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-schneiderman/the-life-of-men-and-women-is-so-cheap-and-property-is-so-sacred-there/) [Rose Schneiderman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-schneiderman/) > [Promoting the use of sustainable and renewable rainforest products can help to stop rainforest devastation. The rainforests are much more valuable alive than cut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kilham/promoting-the-use-of-sustainable-and-renewable-rainforest-products/) [Chris Kilham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kilham/) > [I would be a traitor to these poor burned bodies if I came here to talk good fellowship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-schneiderman/i-would-be-a-traitor-to-these-poor-burned-bodies-if-i-came-here-to/) [Rose Schneiderman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-schneiderman/) > [I checked out all types of tobacco trying to find one that would be easiest to live with, I ended up using pipe tobacco.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-strathairn/i-checked-out-all-types-of-tobacco-trying-to-find-one-that-would-be/) [David Strathairn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-strathairn/) > [“Looks delicious," he lied. "A mite crispy along the edges - but then, I like it that way." Incredulous eyes met his own. 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