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The slave who kills his master, in any circumstance, always does so in self-defense.

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Source, in full

Quote by Lúcio de Mendonça in an article about Luís Gama, but that many attributes it to Luís Gama. Source: Obra de Luiz Gama revela a luta por um Brasil sem reis ou escravos. Read more in The "Gama style" of judicial practice.

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Slavery

More quotes by Luís Gama

Slavery is a kind of social leprosy: it has often been abolished by legislators and restored by education under various aspects.

A law is a social monument, a page of history, a lesson in ethnography, a reason for state.

I am an abolitionist, without reservation; I am a citizen; I believe I have done my duty.

Wretched people; they ignore that it is more glorious to die free on a rope, or torn to pieces by dogs in the public square, than to feast with the Neros in slavery.

Under the law, the crime of murder perpetrated by the slave on the person of the master is justifiable

All Luís Gama quotes →

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Attribution

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