Frederick Douglass: “The body of the nation was everything; the soul of the nation was…”

On the record

The body of the nation was everything; the soul of the nation was nothing.

Said by

Frederick Douglass

Source

This quote contrasts the material and spiritual needs of a nation, emphasizing the importance of both.

More from Frederick Douglass

Jan 1, 1881

The black man (unlike the Indian) loves civilization.

Jan 1, 1881

The father might be a white man, glorying in the purity of his Anglo-Saxon blood, and his child ranked with the blackest slaves.

Jan 1, 1881

The sentiment that brings us here to-day is one of the noblest that can stir and thrill the human heart.

Jan 1, 1881

I wished it was possible I could remain small all my life, knowing that the sooner I grew large the shorter would be my time to remain with them.

Frederick Douglass: “The body of the nation was everything; the soul of the nation was nothing.”