45+ William Lloyd Garrison Quotes From The Pioneering Social Reformer

William was a great journalistic crusader, who played a crucial role in the abolishment of slavery in the United States.

Being a prominent abolitionist and suffragist, William was also a journalist, author and social reformer. He's best known for 'The Liberator', his popular anti-slavery newspaper.

William was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the United States in the year 1897 to a traveling seaman. Garrison became involved with the abolitionist anti-slavery movement in 1830. He was strictly against slavery and claimed he would do anything in his power to stop it. This is why used the printing press to publish 'The Liberator', an American anti-slavery newspaper that never minced its words.

We have gathered some of the most popular William Lloyd Garrison quotes here. William Lloyd Garrison's best quotes are included in this article, including his claims that, "I will be as harsh as truth and as uncompromising as justice" and, "That which is not just, is not law".

As you enjoy these William Lloyd Garrison quotes, do also have a look at these Harriet Beecher Stowe quotes and John Brown quotes.

These are some of the most motivational and wise lines by William Lloyd Garrison.

1. "I am in earnest, I will not equivocate, I will not excuse, I will not retreat a single inch, and I will be heard."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

2. "Wherever there is a human being, I see God-given rights inherent in that being."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

3. "Our country is the world, our countrymen are all mankind."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

4. "I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity?"

-William Lloyd Garrison.

5. "We love the land of our nativity, only as we love all other lands."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

6. "I will be as harsh as truth, and uncompromising as justice..."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

7. "We may be personally defeated, but our principles, never!"

-William Lloyd Garrison.

8. "In proportion as we perceive and embrace the truth do we become just, heroic, magnanimous, divine."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

9. "The success of any great moral enterprise does not depend upon numbers."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

10. "Liberty for each, for all, and forever!"

-William Lloyd Garrison.

Here are some anti-slavery William Lloyd Garrison quotes on slavery, discussing the abolitionist author's  fight for the emancipation of slaves in the United States.

11. "Enslave the liberty of but one human being and the liberties of the world are put in peril."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

12. "Is error, though unwittingly supported by a host of good men, stronger than truth?"

-William Lloyd Garrison.

13. "Be faithful, be vigilant, be untiring in your efforts to break every yoke, and let the oppressed go free."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

14. "Are right and wrong convertible terms, dependant upon popular opinion?"

-William Lloyd Garrison.

15. "Little boldness is needed to assail the opinions and practices of notoriously wicked men."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

16. "But to tyrants, I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

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

-William Lloyd Garrison.

18. "Slavery will not be overthrown without excitement, a most tremendous excitement."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

19. "With reasonable men, I will reason; with humane men, I will plead."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

20. "The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal..."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

The bold and powerful statements about society by the abolitionist Garrison will resonate with one and all.

21. "No man shall rule over me with my consent. I will rule over no man."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

22. "I will say, finally, that I despair of the Republic while slavery exists therein."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

23. "While a slave remains in his fetters, the land must have no rest."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

24. "Water will seek its level; nature will have free course, and heart will answer to heart."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

25. "To rebuke great and good men for their conduct, and to impeach their discernment, is the highest effort of moral courage."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

26. "I have a need to be all on fire, for I have mountains of ice about me to melt."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

27. "On this subject, I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

28. "To discard a portion of scripture is not necessarily to reject the truth, but maybe the highest evidence that one can give of his love of truth."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

29. "My crime is that I will not go with the multitude to do evil."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

30. "My fanaticism is that I insist on the American people abolishing slavery, or ceasing to operate on the rights of man."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

A collection of the most essential and thought-provoking Garrison quotes on emancipation, society, and the abolitionist movement.

31. "Our own vices are too strong for us, and keep us in perpetual alarm."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

32. "My singularity is that when I say that freedom is of God and slavery is of the devil, I mean just what I say."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

33. "The great mass of mankind shun the labor and responsibility of forming opinions for themselves. The question is not: what is true? But: what is popular?"

-William Lloyd Garrison.

34. "It is an abuse of language to talk of the slavery of wages... We cannot see that it is wrong to give or receive wages."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

35. "By no precedent, no example, no law, no compact, no purchase, no bequest, no inheritance, no combination of circumstances, is slaveholding right or justifiable."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

36. "I have not come here with reference to any flag but that of freedom."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

37. "Why should we slumber at this momentous crisis?"

-William Lloyd Garrison.

38. "There must be no compromise with slavery - none whatever. Nothing is gained, everything is lost, by subordinating principle to expedience."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

39. "All the selfishness of our nature cries aloud for a better security."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

40. "There is no safety where there is no strength; no strength without union; no union without justice; no justice where faith and truth are wanting. The right to be free is a truth planted in the hearts of men."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

41. "I am proud of her civil, political, and religious institutions - of her high advancement in science, literature, and the arts - of her general prosperity and grandeur. But I have some solemn accusations to bring against her."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

42. "To be no better, no wiser, no greater than the past, is to be little and foolish and bad; it is to misapply noble means, to sacrifice glorious opportunities for the performance of sublime deeds, to become cumberers of the ground."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

43. "I cherish as strong a love for the land of my nativity as any man living."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

44. "We are the friends of reform; but that is not reform, which, in curing one evil, threatens to inflict a thousand others."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

45. "We have a natural right, therefore, to seek the abolition of slavery throughout the globe."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

46. "Everyone should be treated fairly no matter what they look like."

-William Lloyd Garrison.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 45+ William Lloyd Garrison quotes from the author of 'The Liberator', then why not have a look at our [social justice quotes], or [equality quotes] for more?

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