Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears.
Frederick DouglassRead
The opposite of compromise is character.
Interpretation
Compromise can dilute one's values, while character signifies integrity and strength of principles.
This quote by Frederick Douglass suggests that compromising one's beliefs or values leads to a loss of true character. It emphasizes the importance of maintaining one's integrity and standing firm in oneβs principles, as true character is revealed not through yielding to pressures but through the steadfastness of one's beliefs and actions.
In practice
Using this quote during a motivational speech about leadership and integrity.
Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears.
We may explain success mainly by one word and that word is WORK! WORK!! WORK!!! WORK!!!!
I do not think much of the good luck theory of self-made men. It is worth but little attention and has no practical value.
To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.
The Constitution is a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT. Read its preamble, consider it purposes. Is slavery among them? Is it at the gateway? or is it in the temple? it is neither.
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.
As long as there is still one beggar around, there will still be myth.
The sense of an entailed disadvantage - the deformed foot doubtfully hidden by the shoe, makes a restlessly active spiritual yeast, and easily turns a self-centered, unloving nature into an Ishmaelite.
Slavery discourages arts and manufacturing ...[and] every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant.
It seems to me there is less meanness in atheism, by a good measure. It seems that the spirit of religious self-righteousness this article deplores is precisely the spirit in which it is written. Of course he's right about many things, one of them being the destructive potency of religious self-righteousness. (p. 146)
To grumble about the world and its unhappiness is always easier than to beat one's breast and groan over oneself.
Our problem is within ourselves. We have found the means to blow the world physically apart. Spiritually, we have yet to find the means to put together the world's broken pieces.
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