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The silver trump of freedom had roused my soul to eternal wakefulness.

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The thought of only being a creature of the present and the past was troubling. I longed for a future too, with hope in it. The desire to be free, awa...more

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I didn't know I was a slave until I found out I couldn't do the things I wanted.

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To make a contented slave, you must make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihil...more

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Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as to work.

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Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.

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Without a struggle, there can be no progress.

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Everybody has asked the question. . ."What shall we do with the Negro?" I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing w...more

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A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people.

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You are loosed from your moorings, and are free; I am fast in my chains, and M a slave! You move merrily before the gentle gale, and I sadly before th...more

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For my part, I should prefer death to hopeless bondage.