With John Brown, as with every other man fit to die for a cause, the hour of his physical weakness was the hour of his moral strength--the hour of his defeat was the hour of his triumph--the moment of his capture was the crowning victory of his life.
Douglass reflects on the paradox of John Brown's physical defeat leading to moral triumph in his cause.
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I believed I should get enough to eat at Covey’s, even if I suffered in other respects, and this to a hungry man is not a prospect to be regarded with indifference.
Knowledge unfits a child to be a slave.” I instinctively assented to the proposition, and from that moment I understood the direct pathway from slavery to freedom.