“A wrong done to the weak should be an insult to the strong.” — Frances E. W. Harper | V2Melody

“A wrong done to the weak should be an insult to the strong.”

A compact moral principle of solidarity with those who lack power. · Speech, Woman's Political Future, 1893

Frances E. W. Harper

About Frances E. W. Harper

Frances E. W. Harper

24 September 1825–22 February 1911

In the rich tapestry of nineteenth-century American literature and reform, few figures shine as brightly—or with as enduring a flame—as Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Born into freedom yet forged in the fires of racial injustice, she emerged as a poet of profound moral vision, a tireless abolitionist lecturer, a…

More by Frances E. W. Harper

Poems by Frances E. W. Harper

More remarks by Frances E. W. Harper

“The tendency of the present age, with its restlessness, religious upheavals, failures, blunders, and crimes, is toward broader freedom, an increase of knowledge, the emancipation of thought, and a recognition of the brotherhood of man.”

She saw social upheaval as part of a larger movement towards freedom, knowledge and human fellowship. · Speech, Woman's Political Future, 1893

“O women of America! into your hands God has pressed one of the sublimest opportunities that ever came into the hands of the women of any race or people.”

She frames civic participation as a profound opportunity for women to serve society. · Speech, Woman's Political Future, 1893

“I do not believe that giving the woman the ballot is immediately going to cure all the ills of life. I do not believe that white women are dew-drops just exhaled from the skies.”

A strikingly candid rejection of the idea that political rights alone would solve social injustice. · Speech, We Are All Bound Up Together, 1866