Political Quotes

Frederick Douglass: The first step, in the wrong direction, was the violence done to nature and to conscience, in arresting the benevolence…

On the recordJanuary 1, 1855
The first step, in the wrong direction, was the violence done to nature and to conscience, in arresting the benevolence that would have enlightened my young mind.
Said by
Frederick Douglass

Editor's note · Context

Douglass identifies the initial moral compromise in his mistress's treatment of him as the suppression of natural benevolence and conscience.

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