Quote by Frederick Douglass
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle! Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either rods or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.
Summary
This quote by Frederick Douglass emphasizes the necessity of agitation and struggle in the pursuit of freedom. Those who claim to support freedom but discourage any form of protest or resistance are hoping for progress without putting in the necessary work. Douglass declares that power will never willingly concede without being challenged. He argues that by tolerating injustice, people allow the amount of oppression to persist and be imposed upon them. Only by resisting oppression, whether peacefully or forcefully, can individuals push against the limits imposed by tyrants and strive for true freedom.
Topics
Diplomacy
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