Instead of the bright, blue sky of America, I am covered with the soft, grey fog of the Emerald Isle. I breathe, and lo! the chattel becomes a man.

...I recognize the widest possible difference-so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy, is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked. To be the friend of one, is of necessity to be the enemy of the other.

Educate your sons and daughters, send them to school, and show them that beside the cartridge box, the ballot box, and the jury box, you also have the knowledge box.

To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.

He who would be free must strike the first blow.

If I have advocated the cause of the Negro, it is not because I am a Negro, but because I am a man.

The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers.