Quotes · verified word for word in the text
Harriet Beecher Stowe quotes
12 quotes from 2 of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s books on this site, book by book. Each quote is copied exactly from the book’s text in this site’s reader (the Project Gutenberg e-text named under each book) and links to its passage; when this page was built, every quote was checked word for word against that text. Quotes we could not find in a book we host are not listed.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Any mind that is capable of a real sorrow is capable of good.
— Spoken by a character · XXVIII. Reunion
Scenes of blood and cruelty are shocking to our ear and heart. What man has nerve to do, man has not nerve to hear.
But you haven’t got us. We don’t own your laws; we don’t own your country; we stand here as free, under God’s sky, as you are; and, by the great God that made us, we’ll fight for our liberty till we die.
— George · XVII. The Freeman’s Defence
Mas’r, if you mean to kill me, kill me; but, as to my raising my hand agin any one here, I never shall,—I’ll die first!
— Tom · XXXIII. Cassy
You ought to be ashamed, John! Poor, homeless, houseless creatures! It’s a shameful, wicked, abominable law, and I’ll break it, for one, the first time I get a chance; and I hope I shall have a chance, I do!
— Spoken by a character · IX. In Which It Appears That a Senator Is But a Man
The longest way must have its close,—the gloomiest night will wear on to a morning.
Treat ’em like dogs, and you’ll have dogs’ works and dogs’ actions. Treat ’em like men, and you’ll have men’s works.
— Spoken by a character · XI. In Which Property Gets into an Improper State of Mind
Talk of the abuses of slavery! Humbug! The thing itself is the essence of all abuse!
— Spoken by a character · XIX. Miss Ophelia’s Experiences and Opinions Continued
“All men are free and equal in the grave, if it comes to that, Mr. Wilson,” said George.
— George · XI. In Which Property Gets into an Improper State of Mind
“I am braver than I was, because I have lost all; and he who has nothing to lose can afford all risks.”
— St · XXVIII. Reunion
Dred
It is the last triumph of affection and magnanimity, when a loving heart can respect that suffering silence of its beloved, and allow that lonely liberty in which only some natures can find comfort.
He who glides dreamily down the glassy surface of a mighty river floats securely, making his calculations to row upward. He knows nothing what the force of that seemingly glassy current will be when his one feeble oar is set against the whole volume of its waters.