Nor did I, when pursuing this course, consider myself as uttering what was utterly false; for I always measured the kindness of my master by the standard of kindness set up by slaveholders around us.
Douglass explains that his positive replies about his master were not entirely false, but rather a reflection of how enslaved people were forced to measure "kindness" against the low standards of the surrounding slaveholding society.
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Land is not worth much where there are no people to occupy it, and a mule is not worth much where there is no one to drive him.
The laws which determine the destinies of individuals and nations are impartial and eternal.