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To make a contented slave it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken the moral and mental vision and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason.

— Frederick Douglass Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845)

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More quotes by Frederick Douglass

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)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Frederick Douglass (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.