Political Quotes

Frederick Douglass: “Man is so constituted that if he cannot get a living honestly, he will get it dishonestly.”

On the record
Man is so constituted that if he cannot get a living honestly, he will get it dishonestly.
Said by
Frederick Douglass

Editor's note · Context

Douglass comments on human nature and the lengths to which people will go to survive.

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More from Frederick Douglass

Jan 1, 1881

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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Jan 1, 1881

No power beneath the sky can make an ignorant, wasteful, and idle people prosperous, or a licentious people happy.

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Jan 1, 1881

Still another ground of hope I find in the fact that colored men are strong in their gratitude to benefactors, and firm in their political convictions.

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Jan 1, 1881

Another ground of hope for our race is in the progress of education.

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