--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He told his story through autobiographies…" description: "\"“He told his story through autobiographies that garnered him wide acclaim (and a warrant for his life—as we know, he fled to Britain to escape capture ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/sarah-lewis-16690_quote_he-told-his-story-through-autobiographie_1199790.jpg" --- # He told his story through autobiographies that garnered… ![“He told his story through autobiographies that garnered him wide acclaim (and a warrant for his life—as we know, he fled to Britain to escape capture and a return to slavery). My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) sold 5,000 copies in the first two days. 43 John Whittier was not alone in considering it…” quote by Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/sarah-lewis-16690_quote_he-told-his-story-through-autobiographie_1199790.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/sarah-lewis-16690_quote_he-told-his-story-through-autobiographie_1199790.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/sarah-lewis-16690_quote_he-told-his-story-through-autobiographie_1199790.jpg) > ““He told his story through autobiographies that garnered him wide acclaim (and a warrant for his life—as we know, he fled to Britain to escape capture and a return to slavery). My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) sold 5,000 copies in the first two days. 43 John Whittier was not alone in considering it the headwaters of a “new, truly national literature.” 44 Yet Douglass knew that the key to change lies in the literature of thought pictures we carry born out of contrast. “Poets, prophets and reformers are all picture makers—and this ability is the secret of their power and of their achievements,” he said. “They see what ought to be by the reflection of what is, and endeavor to remove the contradiction.” 45 This penetrating vision went far beyond a theory of our response to pictures. It described the chrysalis nature of becoming.”” [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Douglass argues that literature that vividly portrays reality can inspire social change by revealing contradictions and envisioning a better world. **In simple terms:** Powerful images in writing can drive reform. Key Takeaway Use storytelling to expose injustice. Themes literature social change visual imagination reform power Mood determined hopeful Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - activism - education - political advocacy - public speaking Key Concepts narrative contrast picture making critical consciousness Questions to Reflect On - How can we create compelling narratives that challenge oppression? - What role do images play in shaping public opinion? A Different Perspective Stories may be censored or ignored by those in power. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) ## Related quotes > [We must become free. We are free; the work is to know it. We must give up all slavery, all bondage of whatever kind.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/we-must-become-free-we-are-free-the-work-is-to-know-it-we-must-give/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [The moment you accept God's ordering, that moment your work ceases to be a task, and becomes your calling; you pass from bondage to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-clay-trumbull/the-moment-you-accept-god-s-ordering-that-moment-your-work-ceases-to/) [Henry Clay Trumbull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-clay-trumbull/) > [Zen in it's essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/zen-in-it-s-essence-is-the-art-of-seeing-into-the-nature-of-one-s/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [“To move from bondage to freedom requires a shift in viewpoint; the purpose of prayer is to affect this shift; to take you from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-weiss/to-move-from-bondage-to-freedom-requires-a-shift-in-viewpoint-the/) [Edward Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-weiss/) > [“the long and bitter political struggle in which he had engaged against slavery had not prepared Mr. Douglass to take up the equally difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/the-long-and-bitter-political-struggle-in-which-he-had-engaged/) [Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/) > [“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. —Frederick Douglass”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timber-hawkeye/it-is-easier-to-build-strong-children-than-to-repair-broken-men/) [Timber Hawkeye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timber-hawkeye/) > [Growing up, I read all three of Frederick Douglass' autobiographies by the time I was 12.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tubbs/growing-up-i-read-all-three-of-frederick-douglass-autobiographies-by/) [Michael Tubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tubbs/) > [“Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, (born circa 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American abolitionist, women's suffragist, editor, orator, author, statesman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/frederick-douglass-born-frederick-augustus-washington-bailey-born/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“Summing up Grant’s career, Frederick Douglass wrote: “In him the Negro found a protector, the Indian a friend, a vanquished foe a brother, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/summing-up-grant-s-career-frederick-douglass-wrote-in-him-the-negro/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [In every era going back to Lincoln with Frederick Douglass, presidents talk to those that were leading at that time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-sharpton/in-every-era-going-back-to-lincoln-with-frederick-douglass-presidents/) [Al Sharpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-sharpton/) > [Frederick Douglass had to teach himself how to read before standing up to defeat slavery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-williams/frederick-douglass-had-to-teach-himself-how-to-read-before-standing/) [Juan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-williams/) > [They cannot degrade Frederick Douglass. The soul that is within me no man can degrade. I am not the one that is being degraded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/they-cannot-degrade-frederick-douglass-the-soul-that-is-within-me-no/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“Douglass never made the mistake (a common one) of considering that his education was finished. He has continued to study, he studies now, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/this-ebook-features-dynamic-links-for-ease-of-navigation-plus-bonus-audiobook/douglass-never-made-the-mistake-a-common-one-of-considering-that-his/) This Ebook Features Dynamic Links for Ease of Navigation Plus Bonus Audiobook > [“Frederick Douglass, former slave, extraordinary speaker and writer, wrote in his Rochester newspaper the North Star, January 21, 1848, of “the present disgraceful, cruel,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/frederick-douglass-former-slave-extraordinary-speaker-and-writer/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [...Slavery appears such a relatively mild business that one begins to wonder why Frederick Douglass and so many others ever tried to escape.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinesh-d-souza/slavery-appears-such-a-relatively-mild-business-that-one-begins-to/) [Dinesh D'Souza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinesh-d-souza/) ## More by Sarah Lewis > [“We permit a new future to enter the room with these startling encounters. A young boy from Austin, Texas, Charles Black Jr., stood and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/we-permit-a-new-future-to-enter-the-room-with-these-startling/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [Success is a label that the world confers on you, but mastery is an ever-onward 'almost.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/success-is-a-label-that-the-world-confers-on-you-but-mastery-is-an/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [“Sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson later said that there should be a “consilience” between art and science. 79 Former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison took selected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/sociobiologist-edward-o-wilson-later-said-that-there-should-be-a/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [Shoes are money well spent and a good metaphor for life: everything else in life may be awful but a shoe will cheer me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/shoes-are-money-well-spent-and-a-good-metaphor-for-life-everything/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [Mastery is in constantly wanting to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/mastery-is-in-constantly-wanting-to-close-the-gap-between-where-you/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [A near win shifts our view of the landscape. It can turn future goals, which we tend to envision at a distance, into more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/a-near-win-shifts-our-view-of-the-landscape-it-can-turn-future-goals/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [“In one of our conversations, she told me about Finland’s development of sisu, a rough cognate for grit. Etymologically, sisu denotes a person’s viscera,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/in-one-of-our-conversations-she-told-me-about-finland-s-development/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [“A rise often falls into the blind spot of vision, and so we tell the stories that I have in this book because we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/a-rise-often-falls-into-the-blind-spot-of-vision-and-so-we-tell-the/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [“There is no word to describe exactly what the High Line is to the non-architects among us, nor the collective reframing process required to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/there-is-no-word-to-describe-exactly-what-the-high-line-is-to-the-non/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [Pain is not a punishment. And pleasure is not a reward. You could argue that failure is not punishment and Success is not reward.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/pain-is-not-a-punishment-and-pleasure-is-not-a-reward-you-could-argue/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [Completion is a goal, but we hope it is never the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/completion-is-a-goal-but-we-hope-it-is-never-the-end/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [“How many movements began when an aesthetic encounter indelibly changed our past perceptions of the world? It was an abolitionist’s print, not logical argument,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/how-many-movements-began-when-an-aesthetic-encounter-indelibly/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [“If you want to see it well, you must not stand in one place . . . If you’re rooted to a spot, you miss a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/if-you-want-to-see-it-well-you-must-not-stand-in-one-place-if-you-re/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [“It was a truth that Leo Tolstoy declaimed a century or so ago: our response to art has the agency to do what “external…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/it-was-a-truth-that-leo-tolstoy-declaimed-a-century-or-so-ago-our/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [“A fuller vision comes from our ability to recognize the fallibility in our current and past forms of sight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/a-fuller-vision-comes-from-our-ability-to-recognize-the-fallibility/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) [Explore all 39 Sarah Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) ## More Slavery quotes > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [If he's - the inference is that somehow he thinks slavery is a - is a noble institution I would - I would strongly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-he-s-the-inference-is-that-somehow-he-thinks-slavery-is-a-is-a/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [We know, Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers amongst us. How little they know, whereof they speak! There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-know-southern-men-declare-that-their-slaves-are-better-off-than/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“Work is a vehicle with which man chases some fleeting destination called a full tummy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/work-is-a-vehicle-with-which-man-chases-some-fleeting-destination/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Being a slave is to have nothing but still having something left to lose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lalita-tedemy/being-a-slave-is-to-have-nothing-but-still-having-something-left-to/) Lalita Tedemy > [Think about it: we went into slavery pagans; we came out Christians. We went into slavery pieces of property; we came out American citizens.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/think-about-it-we-went-into-slavery-pagans-we-came-out-christians-we/) [Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/) > [Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/man-preys-on-man-and-you-mourn-for-the-idle-tapestry-that-decorated-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [They don't really focus on that history here in America. I remember growing up as a kid, history class was very washed-over. They didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldis-hodge/they-don-t-really-focus-on-that-history-here-in-america-i-remember/) [Aldis Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldis-hodge/) > [We're living based on laws and ideas that we, as a society, embraced back in the days of slavery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ava-duvernay/we-re-living-based-on-laws-and-ideas-that-we-as-a-society-embraced/) [Ava DuVernay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ava-duvernay/) > [“To say to the slave who has not been emancipated 'Do not behave as a slave' is to mock his enslavement. But to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-murray/to-say-to-the-slave-who-has-not-been-emancipated-do-not-behave-as-a/) [John Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-murray/) [Browse all 2,997 Slavery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He told his story through autobiographies that garnered him wide acclaim (and a warrant for his life—as we know, he fled to Britain to escape capture and a return to slavery). 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