118 quotes
No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.
Speech at the Civil Rights Mass Meeting (1883)
I would unite with anybody to do right; and with nobody to do wrong.
I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur my own abhorrence.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845)
I look upon my departure from Colonel Lloyd's plantation as one of the most interesting events of my life.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845)
Where there is seeming contentment with slavery, there is certain treachery to freedom.
The Heroic Slave (1853)
If the Republican party shall fail to carry out this purpose, God will raise up another party that will be faithful.
For colored men the Republican party is the deck, all outside is the sea.
From the first I saw no chance of bettering the condition of the freedman until he should cease to be merely a freedman and should become a citizen.
The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1892)
The way to abolish slavery in America is to vote such men into power as will use their powers for the abolition of slavery.
The relation between the white and colored people of this country is the great, paramount, imperative, and all-commanding question for this age and nation to solve.
In all the relations of life and death, we are met by the color line.
Speech at the Convention of Colored Men (1883)
Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be depicted; but gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy the skill of pen or pencil.
My Escape from Slavery (1881)
Going to live at Baltimore laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845)
Right is of no sex, Truth is of no color, God is the Father of us all, and we are all Brethren.
The ground which a colored man occupies in this country is, every inch of it, sternly disputed.
The gnawings of hunger conquers by degrees, till all that a man has he would give in exchange for a single crust of bread.
The Heroic Slave (1853)
The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.
I recognize the Republican party as the sheet anchor of the colored man's political hopes and the ark of his safety.
Letter to the Men of Petersburg (1888)
I didn't know I was a slave until I found out I couldn't do the things I wanted.
The Republican Party is the ship and all else is the sea around us.
Frederick Douglass American Hero (2008)