Tao Te Ching

The Power of Goodness, the Wisdom Beyond Words
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Frederick Douglass

1818 – 1895 CE

International symbol of social justice

Escaped slave, most influential 19th century black leader, adviser to Abraham Lincoln, champion of the working class, author, orator, and newspaper editor; Douglass eloquently agitated for the abolition of slavery, racism and capital punishment; for women’s rights, free public education, and land reform. Calling racism a “diseased imagination,” he convinced Lincoln to let blacks fight in the Civil War and helped enlist troops. Internationally famous, author of an American classic autobiography, a father of liberation theology, and the first African American in many political positions; his memory symbolizes and inspires the spirit of people everywhere to resist oppression and work for social justice.

Eras

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Quotes by Frederick Douglass (10 quotes)

“It is easer to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

Chapters: 20. Unconventional Mind

Themes: Education

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“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.”

Chapters: 33. Know Yourself

Themes: True Self

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“A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me.”

Chapters: 36. The Small, Dark Light

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“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”

Chapters: 53. Shameless Thieves

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“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.”

Chapters: 68. Joining Heaven & Earth

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“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”

Chapters: 18. The Sick Society

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“While Abraham Lincoln will not go down to posterity as Abraham the Great, or as Abraham the Wise, or as Abraham the Eloquent,—although he is all three—wise, great, and eloquent—he will go down to posterity as Honest Abraham... and going down thus, his name may be written anywhere in this wide world of ours, side by side with that of Washington... He treated me as a man... He did not let me feel for a moment that there was any difference in the color of our skins.”

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“There are moments in the lives of most men when the doors of their souls are open and their true characters may be read... when Mr. Lincoln pointed me out to him, the first expression which came to his face was one of bitter contempt and aversion... Whatever Andrew Johnson may be, he certainly is no friend of our race.”

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“Detraction paves the way for the very perfections which it doubts and denies.”

Themes: Complaint

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“Jefferson was not ashamed to call the black man his brother and to address him as a gentleman.”

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Quotes about Frederick Douglass (3 quotes)

“Here comes my friend Douglass!”

Abraham Lincoln 1809 – 1865 CE

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“Douglass provided a powerful voice for human rights during this period of American history and is still revered today for his contributions against racial injustice.

Anonymous 1
Freedom from the narrow boxes defined by personal history
from National Black Republican Association (2009)

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“Those damned sons of bitches thought they had me in a trap! I know that damned Douglass; he's just like any nigger, and he would sooner cut a white man's throat than not.”

Andrew Johnson 1808 – 1875 CE
The first impeached and one of the most egregious of the white supremacist US presidents

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