We may explain success mainly by one word and that word is WORK! WORK!! WORK!!! WORK!!!!
Frederick DouglassRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote illustrates how slaves express their deep sorrows through song, using music as a form of emotional release.
Frederick Douglass highlights the paradox of the slave experience, where singing serves as a poignant expression of their unhappiness and pain. The songs, rooted in the depths of sorrow, offer a momentary relief akin to the act of shedding tears, revealing the profound emotional struggle within the enslaved individuals and their quest for an outlet amid their suffering.
Themes
SlaveryMusicSorrowEmotional ReleaseTears
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about overcoming adversity, one might refer to Douglass's quote to illustrate the power of art as a coping mechanism.
More from Frederick Douglass
All quotes →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.
Frederick DouglassRead
To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.
Frederick DouglassRead
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.
Frederick DouglassRead
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.
Frederick DouglassRead
A great man, tender of heart, strong of nerve, boundless patience and broadest sympathy, with no motive apart from his country.
Frederick DouglassRead
Similar quotes
I don't go by my caste, creed or religion. My works speak for me.
Shashi TharoorRead
Abide in peace, banish cares, take no account of all that happens, and you will serve God according to his good pleasure and rest in him.
John Of The CrossRead
As long as there have been men and they have lived, they have all felt this tragic ambiguity of their condition, but as long as there have been philosophers and they have thought, most of them have tried to mask it.
Simone De BeauvoirRead
Life does not agree with philosophy: There is no happiness that is not idleness, and only what is useless is pleasurable.
Anton ChekhovRead
The United States does not have a monopoly on crazy people. It's not the only country that has psychosis. And yet we kill each other in these mass shootings at rates that are exponentially higher than anyone else. Well, what's the difference? The difference is that these guys can stack up a bunch of ammunition in their houses, and that's sort of par for the course.
Barack ObamaRead
For every fact there is an infinity of hypotheses.
Robert M. PirsigRead