If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
—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.
—Frederick Douglass
Topics: Freedom
He who would be free must strike the first blow.
—Frederick Douglass
Topics: Defense
For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.
—Frederick Douglass
I know no class of my fellowmen, however just, enlightened, and humane, which can be wisely and safely trusted absolutely with the liberties of any other class
—Frederick Douglass
I knew that however bad the Republican party was, the Democratic party was much worse. The elements of which the Republican party was composed gave better ground for the ultimate hope of the success of the colored mans cause than those of the Democratic party.
—Frederick Douglass
Without a struggle, there can be no progress.
—Frederick Douglass
Topics: Courage
We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future.
—Frederick Douglass
Topics: Reflection, The Past, Past
I recognize the Republican party as the sheet anchor of the colored mans political hopes and the ark of his safety.
—Frederick Douglass
The soul that is within me no man can degrade.
—Frederick Douglass
Topics: Self-respect
I am a Republican, a black, dyed in the wool Republican, and I never intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress.
—Frederick Douglass
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Harriet Beecher Stowe American Abolitionist
Wendell Phillips American Abolitionist
Lydia Maria Child American Abolitionist
Susan B. Anthony American Civil Rights Leader
Sojourner Truth African-American Abolitionist
Horace Greeley American Elected Rep
Benjamin Franklin American Founding Father, Inventor
Booker T. Washington African-American Educationist
W. E. B. Du Bois American Sociologist, Activist
William Lloyd Garrison American Abolitionist