“I have observed this in my experience of slavery,--that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only increased my desire to be free, and set me to thinking of plans to gain my freedom. I have found that, to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel that slavery is right; and he can be brought to that only when he ceased to be a man.”
― Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
― Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
“If you find yourself with a desire that no experience in this world can satisfy, then the most probable explanation is that you were made for another world.”
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“Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears.”
― The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave
― The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave
“The whole point of crying was to quit before you cornied it up. The whole point of grief itself was to cut it out while it was still honest, while it still meant something. Because the thing was so easily corrupted, let yourself go and you started embellishing your own sobs.”
― Revolutionary Road
― Revolutionary Road
Mizzmo’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Mizzmo’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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