I know that [civilized men] do nothing but boast incessantly of the peace and repose they enjoy in their chains.. But when I see [barbarous man] sacrifice pleasures, repose, wealth, power, and life itself for the preservation of this sole good which is so disdained by those who have lost it; when I see animals born free and despising captivity break their heads against the bars of their prison; when I see multitudes of entirely naked savages scorn European voluptuousness and endure hunger, fire, the sword, and death to preserve only their independence, I feel it does not behoove slaves to reason about freedom. JeanJacques Rousseau
About This Quote

Frederick Douglass said: "I know that [civilized men] do nothing but boast incessantly of the peace and repose they enjoy in their chains.... But when I see [barbarous man] sacrifice pleasures, repose, wealth, power, and life itself for the preservation of this sole good which is so disdained by those who have lost it; when I see animals born free and despising captivity break their heads against the bars of their prison; when I see multitudes of entirely naked savages scorn European voluptuousness and endure hunger, fire, the sword, and death to preserve only their independence, I feel it does not behoove slaves to reason about freedom." Frederick Douglass was a slave. He was born a slave in Maryland on the Eastern Shore around 1818. He escaped slavery as a child and became an abolitionist speaker. Douglass is famous for his autobiography.

Source: Discourse On The Origin Of Inequality

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  1. Or, rather, let us be more simple and less vain.
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