Political Quotes

Frederick Douglass: “Ye blind guides! which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.”

On the record
Ye blind guides! which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
Said by
Frederick Douglass

Editor's note · Context

This metaphor highlights the absurdity of focusing on minor faults while ignoring major injustices.

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More from Frederick Douglass

Jan 1, 1881

They cannot be coaxed or driven to vote with their enemies against their friends.

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Everywhere in the south the colored man is learning to read.

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The nation or people which shall comply with them will rise, and those which violate them will fall, and perhaps will disappear altogether.

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None now denies the ability of the colored race to acquire knowledge of anything which can be communicated to the human understanding by letters.

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