Thomas Clarkson

“Sooner may a comet be struck from its orbit, and wander through the realms of space, than one single principle of pure and disinterested benevolence be annihilated.”

“We cannot suppose that God has made an order of beings, with such capacities and powers as negroes are possessed of, to be reduced by another part of his creation to the situation of brutes.”

“If you have great talents, industry will improve them; if you have but moderate abilities, industry will supply their deficiency.”

“Agitation is the opposite of stagnation; the one is life, the other is death.”

“Having now delivered my testimony, I have only to say that I have done it with a clear conscience, and that I have been actuated by no other motive than the love of my fellow creatures.”

“I can truly say that, from the time I had the happiness to embrace the cause, I have never, for one moment, repented.”

“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.”

“Truth is a powerful auxiliary, and if I can only get it on my side, I shall be sure of a victory.”