I always felt worse for having received any thing; for I feared that the giving me a few cents would ease his conscience, and make him feel himself to be a pretty honorable sort of robber.
Douglass describes his discomfort with receiving small payments, fearing it would allow his master to rationalize his exploitation.
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More from Frederick Douglass
The hardships and dangers involved in the struggle give strength and toughness to the character, and enable it to stand firm in storm as well as in sunshine.
The nation or people which shall comply with them will rise, and those which violate them will fall, and perhaps will disappear altogether.
I will not listen, myself, and I would not have you listen to the nonsense, that no people can succeed in life among a people by whom they have been despised and oppressed.