If the State cannot survive the anti-slavery agitation, then let the State perish. If the Church must be cast down by the strugglings of Humanity to be free, then let the Church fall and its fragments be scattered to the four winds of Heaven, never more to curse the earth.

You can not possibly have a broader basis for government than that which includes all the people, with all their rights in their hands, and with an equal power to maintain their rights.

Whether permitted to live to witness the abolition of slavery or not, I felt assured that, as I demanded nothing that was not clearly in accordance with justice and humanity, some time or other, if remembered at all, I should stand vindicated in the eyes of my countrymen.

Wherever there is a human being, I see God-given rights inherent in that being, whatever may be the sex or complexion.

The thing you don't dream about as a kid is all the peripheral stuff that comes with success.

Fame is like the dessert that comes with your achievements - it's not an achievement in itself, but sometimes it can overpower the work.

Because after my first year I had a lot of success, took everybody by storm, came back the next year thought it was easy and didn't have near the season I had the previous year. It was kind of a wake-up call. And so, life goes on.

Grit can't be measured on pop quizzes, but it can often predict long-term success more than mere intelligence.