We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future.

Quote by Frederick Douglass

Topics: Frederick Douglass Quotes

The white man's happiness cannot be purchased by the black man's misery

The white man's happiness cannot be purchased by the black man's misery

The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion.

The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion.

No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at...

No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at...

The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and...

The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and...

The white man's happiness cannot be purchased by the black man's misery.

The white man's happiness cannot be purchased by the black man's misery.

One and God make a majority.

One and God make a majority.

There is no negro problem. The problem is whether the American people have loyalty enough,...

There is no negro problem. The problem is whether the American people have loyalty enough,...

In thinking of America, I sometimes find myself admiring her bright blue sky-her grand old...

In thinking of America, I sometimes find myself admiring her bright blue sky-her grand old...

I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.

I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.

America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to...

America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to...

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

The soul that is within me no man can degrade.

The soul that is within me no man can degrade.

Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one...

Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one...

If there is no struggle, there is no progress.

If there is no struggle, there is no progress.

People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly...

People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly...

Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

I could, as a free man, look across the bay toward the Eastern Shore where...

I could, as a free man, look across the bay toward the Eastern Shore where...

When men sow the wind it is rational to expect that they will reap the...

When men sow the wind it is rational to expect that they will reap the...

At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed.

At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed.

Without a struggle, there can be no progress.

Without a struggle, there can be no progress.