A man's character always takes its hue, more or less, from the form and color of things about him.

Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read.

I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.

Viewed from the genuine abolition ground, Mr. Lincoln seemed tardy, cold, dull, and indifferent; but measuring him by the sentiment of his country, a sentiment he was bound as a statesman to consult, he was swift, zealous, radical, and determined.

...there are at the present moment many colored men in the Confederate Army...as real soldiers, having muskets on their shoulders, and bullets in their pockets, ready to shoot down loyal troops, and do all that soldiers may do to destroy the Federal government...There were such soldiers at Manassas and they are probably there still.

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

This war, disguise it as they may, is virtually nothing more or less than perpetual slavery against universal freedoms.