I have found that, to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel that slavery is right; and he can be brought to that only when he ceased to be a man.

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"Human rights stand upon a common basis; and by all reason that they are supported, maintained, and defended for all the human family. The essential characteristics of humanity are everywhere the same."

- Frederick Douglass

Belief

"Without this dream, there would be no progress."

- Frederick Douglass

Hope

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

- Frederick Douglass

Integrity

"“The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful and virtuous.”"

- Frederick Douglass

Integrity

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

- Frederick Douglass

Integrity

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"Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."

- Joshua J. Marine

Adversity

"The greater the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it."

- Epicurus

Adversity

"It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness."

- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Adversity

"The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself—the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us—that’s where it’s at."

- Jesse Owens

Adversity

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress."

- Frederick Douglass

Adversity