“It is only after slavery and prison that the sweetest appreciation of freedom can come.”

— Malcolm X , book The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Source: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "It is only after slavery and prison that the sweetest appreciation of freedom can come." by Malcolm X?

Malcolm X 180

American human rights activist 1925–1965

Related quotes

“That there is also freedom in captivity, only a prisoner can claim. Coming from a prison guard, this statement would be blasphemy.”

Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990) Swiss author and dramatist

About Tolerance (1977)

“Only the man who has known freedom
Can define his prison.”

Catherine Fisher book Incarceron

Source: Incarceron

“The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.”

Aung San Suu Kyi (1945) State Counsellor of Myanmar and Leader of the National League for Democracy

“Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.”

Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) President of South Africa, anti-apartheid activist

Refusing to bargain for freedom after 21 years in prison, as quoted in TIME (25 February 1985)
1980s

“There is no substitute for a militant freedom. The only alternative is submission and slavery.”

Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) American politician, 30th president of the United States (in office from 1923 to 1929)

The Price of Freedom: Speeches and Addresses, Coolidge, The Minerva Group (2001), p. 159
Acceptance of the Memorial to General Ulysses S. Grant (27 April 1922).
1920s

“The conflict between the principle of liberty and the fact of slavery is coming gradually to an issue. Slavery has now the power, and falls into convulsions at the approach of freedom.”

John Quincy Adams (1767–1848) American politician, 6th president of the United States (in office from 1825 to 1829)

Journal of John Quincy Adams (11 December 1838),
Context: The conflict between the principle of liberty and the fact of slavery is coming gradually to an issue. Slavery has now the power, and falls into convulsions at the approach of freedom. That the fall of slavery is predetermined in the counsels of Omnipotence I cannot doubt; it is a part of the great moral improvement in the condition of man, attested by all the records of history. But the conflict will be terrible, and the progress of improvement perhaps retrograde before its final progress to consummation.