Famous Quotes | Children, I talks to God and God...

Children, I talks to God and God talks to me. I goes out and talks to God in de fields and de woods. Dis morning I was walking out, and I got over de fence. I saw de wheat a holding up its head, looking very big. I goes up and takes holt ob it. You b’lieve it, dere was no wheat dare? I says, God, what is de matter wid dis wheat? and he says to me, “Sojourner, dere is a little weasel in it.” Now I hears talkin’ about de Constitution and de rights of man. I comes up and I takes hold of dis Constitution. it looks mighty big, and I feels for my rights, but der aint any dare. Den, I says, God, what ails dis Constitution? He says to me, “Sojourner, dere is a little weasel in it.”
I carry no weapon; the Lord will reserve [i.e., preserve] me without weapons, I feel safe even in the midst of my enemies; for the truth is powerful and will prevail. - Sojourner Truth
Attribution: Sojourner Truth (c. 1777–1883), African American slave; later an itinerant preacher and advocate of various social reforms including abolition, woman suffrage, and temperance. As quoted in The Narrative of Sojourner Truth, part 2: “Book of Life,” by Frances W. Titus (1875). Thousands of acres of wheat had been destroyed by weevils recently. From an account written by “J.A.D.,” who lived “near Mt. Pleasant, Iowa,” and first published in 1863 in the National Anti-Slavery Standard. Truth said this at “a religious meeting where some speaker had alluded to the government of the United States, and had uttered sentiments in favor of its Constitution.” Said in 1862 to friends who advised her to carry a “sword or pistol” into a hostile meeting which she was scheduled to address in Angola, Indiana. Townspeople had threatened to burn down the building if she attempted to speak. They did not, and she spoke without being harmed.

Categories: And Temperance, Courage, Power, Slave; Later An Itinerant Preacher And Advocate Of Various Social Reforms Including Abolition, Truth, Woman Suffrage

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