At the beginning of the troubles of Saint Domingo, I felt that I was destined to great things. When I received this divine intimation, I was four and fifty years of age; I could neither read nor write.
Toussaint LouvertureRead
The revolution of Saint Domingo was taking its course. I saw that the whites could not endure, because they were divided and because they were overpowered by numbers; I congratulated myself that I was a black man.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Toussaint Louverture reflects on the victory of the Haitian Revolution, emphasizing the strength in unity and the power of the oppressed.
In this quote, Toussaint Louverture observes the unfolding of the Haitian Revolution, noting the inability of the divided white population to maintain control against the united black forces. He expresses pride in his identity as a black man, acknowledging the strength that comes from overcoming oppression through solidarity and determination against greater numbers.
Themes
RevolutionIdentityOppressionUnityFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about empowerment and overcoming adversity.
More from Toussaint Louverture
All quotes →I have undertaken vengeance. I want Liberty and Equality to reign in Saint-Domingue. I work to bring them into existence. Unite yourselves to us, brothers, and fight with us for the same cause.
Toussaint LouvertureRead
Citizens, not less generous than myself, let your most precious moments be employed in causing the past to be forgotten; let all my fellow-citizens swear never to recall the past; let them receive their misled brethren with open arms, and let them, in future, be on their guard against the traps of bad men.
Toussaint LouvertureRead
I am kind; I am humane. I open to you my fatherly arms. Come, all of you; I will receive you all - no less those of the South than those of the West, and of the North, who, gained over by Rigaud, have deserted your firesides, your wives, your children, to place yourselves at his side.
Toussaint LouvertureRead
We went to labor in the fields, my wife and I, hand in hand. Scarcely were we conscious of the fatigues of the day. Heaven always blessed our toil.
Toussaint LouvertureRead
We are free today because we are the stronger; we will be slaves again when the government becomes the stronger.
Toussaint LouvertureRead
Similar quotes
The epic story of the West is the development in the 19th century of a mass prosperity the world had never seen and its near-disappearance in one nation after another in the 20th.
Edmund PhelpsRead
The story of the African-American people is the story of the settlement and growth of America itself, a universal tale that all people should experience.
Henry Louis GatesRead
People want to know why the South is so interested in the Civil War. I had maybe, it's a rough guess, about fifty fistfights in my life. Out of those fifty fistfights, the ones that I had the most vivid memory of were the ones I lost. I think that's one reason why the South remembers the war more than the North does.
Shelby FooteRead
Women enjoyed rights in Egypt they would not again enjoy for more than 2,000 years. They owned ships, ran vineyards, filed lawsuits, practiced medicine. Their husbands supported them after divorce. Their power was unprecedented.
Stacy SchiffRead
The rise of African nations concurrent with the spread of the Nation of Islam and the civil rights movement gave black America a burst of pride over and above anything they had had since the decline of the movement of Marcus Garvey.
John Henrik ClarkeRead
Black history is a series of missing chapters from British history. I'm trying to put those bits back in.
David OlusogaRead