“There will always be people who have power over me, who can destroy my spirit and drain my soul. My best defense is to behave as if I have no soul, to act as if my spirit has already been crushed. Perhaps then, I will be left alone or ignored.”
June 11
Quotes from Daily Negations (2007)
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John S. Hall55
Poet, author, singer, lawyer 1960Related quotes
Jan Smuts (1870–1950) military leader, politician and statesman from South Africa
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Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman
Source: 1840s, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845), Ch. 10
“But then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.”
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1960s, Why Jesus Called A Man A Fool (1967)
Context: I don’t mind telling you this morning that sometimes I feel discouraged. I felt discouraged in Chicago. As I move through Mississippi and Georgia and Alabama, I feel discouraged. Living every day under the threat of death, I feel discouraged sometimes. Living every day under extensive criticisms, even from Negroes, I feel discouraged sometimes. Yes, sometimes I feel discouraged and feel my work’s in vain. But then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.