Quotes About Strength

Man's greatness consists in his ability to do and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done.

How do you feel, said a friend to me, when you are hooted and jeered on the street on account of your color? I feel as if an ass had kicked, but had hit nobody, was my answer.

The truth was, that he had not whipped me at all. I considered him as getting entirely the worst end of the bargain; for he had drawn no blood from me, but I had from him. The whole six months afterwards, that I spent with Mr. Covey, he never laid the weight of his finger upon me in anger. He would occasionally say, he didn't want to get hold of me again. No, thought I, you need not; for you will come off worse than you did before.

He was whipped oftener who was whipped easiest.

A man's troubles are always half disposed of when he finds endurance the only alternative.

I had reached the point, at which I was not afraid to die. This spirit made me a Freeman in fact, while I remained a slave in form,

A man without force, is without the essential dignity of humanity. Human nature is so constituted, that it cannot honor a helpless man, although it can pity him.

and stature commanding and exact—in intellect richly endowed—in natural eloquence a prodigy—in soul manifestly created but a little lower than the angels—yet a slave, ay, a fugitive slave,—trembling for his safety, hardly daring to believe

I admit that the slave does sometimes sing, dance and appear to be merry. But what does this prove? It only proves to my mind, that though slavery is armed with a thousand stings, it is not able entirely to kill the elastic spirit of the bondman.

Geological trees do not flourish among slaves.

Behold your hard hands and your strong frames, your masters and mistresses have soft hands and delicate constitutions, and white skins; whence this difference; 'it is the Lord's doings and marvellous in our eyes.

Nihilism, then, is the recognition of the long waste of strength, the agony of the in vain, insecurity, the lack of any opportunity to recover and to regain composure-—being ashamed in front of oneself, as if one had deceived oneself all too long.—

Previous to that I had been somewhat cynical about the American as a fighting man. I had seen too much bellyaching and laying off. But with the chips down, that all faded away. I can now believe—which I never would have before—the stories of Bataan and Wake. For an American it's got to be awfully easy or awfully tough.

You shall only have foes to be hated; but not foes to be despised: you must be proud of your foes. Thus have I already taught.

Nikada nismo tako slabo zašti?eni od patnje,kao onda kada volimo.

At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.

Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light. Tragedy is the most ridiculous thing.

I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim, and now I am overwhelmed by this decent and good feeling.

i was born a bitch. i was born a painter.

One ought to hold on to one's heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too.

Invisible threads are the strongest ties.

One must be a sea, to receive a polluted stream without becoming impure.

throw roses into the abyss and say: 'here is my thanks to the monster who didn't succeed in swallowing me alive.

Of all evil I deem you capable: Therefore I want good from you. Verily, I have often laughed at the weaklings who thought themselves good because they had no claws.