50 Harriet Tubman Quotes About Freedom, Equality & Justice

Harriet Tubman was a renowned American abolitionist and social activist. Known as the ‘Moses of her people’, Harriet is best known for her role in leading hundreds of slaves to freedom. Here are the best Harriet Tubman quotes from one of the most famous conductors of The Underground Railroad.

Who Is Harriet Tubman?

Harriet Tubman was a former slave who bravely led dozens of enslaved Black people to freedom in the North along the route of the Underground Railroad—an elaborate secret network of safe houses organized for that purpose.

Beyond risking her life to help others, Harriet also served as an armed scout, spy, guerrilla soldier, and nurse for the Union Army during the American Civil War. She was also the first woman to lead a major military operation in American history.

A few years before her death in 1913, Tubman also advocated for women’s right to vote, extending her tireless efforts to the suffragette movement.

She became the first African-American woman to be honored on a U.S. postage stamp. Her countenance is also scheduled to appear on a new $20 bill around 2030.

Born into the harsh reality of slavery, Tubman’s life stands as a symbol of courage, determination, and moral strength.

Her journey from a slave to a fearless abolitionist is a powerful example of never giving up on the fight for freedom and equality.

We’ve curated the collection of the most famous Harriet Tubman quotes about life, love, education, leadership, freedom, and more that will inspire you to always stand for the right and be the voice of change.

Top 10 Harriet Tubman Quotes

1. “Never wound a snake; kill it.” — Harriet Tubman
2. “I go to prepare a place for you.” — Harriet Tubman
3. “Slavery is the next thing to hell.” — Harriet Tubman                     

   
4. “I am at peace with God and all mankind.” — Harriet Tubman                                   

   

5. “I never ran away from slavery, I ran towards freedom.” — Harriet Tubman 

   

6. “Every time I saw a white man I was afraid of being carried away.” — Harriet Tubman 

   

7. “Oh, Lord! You’ve been with me in six troubles, don’t desert me in the seventh!” — Harriet Tubman  

   

8. “I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.” — Harriet Tubman
9. “I grew up like a neglected weed — ignorant of liberty, having no experience of it. Then I was not happy or contented…” — Harriet Tubman
10. “Every great dream begins with a dreamer… you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” — Harriet Tubman     

    

Harriet Tubman Famous Quotes

1. “I can’t die but once.” — Harriet Tubman
2. “God won’t let Master Lincoln beat the South until he does right thing.” — Harriet Tubman
3. “..and I prayed to God to make me strong and able to fight, and that’s what I’ve always prayed for ever since.” — Harriet Tubman
4. “I have heard their groans and sighs, and seen their tears, and I would give every drop of blood in my veins to free them.” — Harriet Tubman
5. “If a person would send another into bondage, he would, it appears to me, be bad enough to send him into hell if he could.” — Harriet Tubman
6. “God’s time is always near. He set the North Star in the heavens; He gave me the strength in my limbs; He meant I should be free.” — Harriet Tubman
7. “Master Lincoln, he’s a great man, and I’m a poor Negro but this Negro can tell Master Lincoln how to save money and young men.” — Harriet Tubman
8. “It wasn’t me, it was the Lord! I always told Him, ‘I trust to you. I don’t know where to go or what to do, but I expect You to lead me,’ and He always did.” — Harriet Tubman
9. “For no man should take me alive; I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted, and when the time came for me to go, the Lord would let them take me.” — Harriet Tubman
10. “I was conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say — I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.” — Harriet Tubman

Best Quotes By Harriet Tubman

1. “I think there’s many a slaveholder’ll get to Heaven. They don’t know no better. They acts up to the light they have.” — Harriet Tubman
2. “Appears like my heart go flutter, flutter, and then they may say ‘Peace, Peace,’ as much as they likes, I know it’s going to be war!” — Harriet Tubman
3. “Oh no, Missus; he does it for conscience; we was taught to do so down South. He says if he denies himself for the sufferings of his Lord an’ Master, Jesus will sustain him.” — Harriet Tubman
4. “The white ladies and gentlemen gathered round him, till I couldn’t see Joe for the crowd, only I heard his voice singing, ‘Glory to God and Jesus too,’ louder than ever.” — Harriet Tubman
5. “I never see such a sight…one woman brought two pigs, a white one and a black one; we took ‘em all on board, named the white pig Beauregard and the black pig Jeff Davis.” — Harriet Tubman
6. “Why, the language down there in the far South is just as different from ours in Maryland as you think. They laughed when they heard me talk and I couldn’t understand them no how.” — Harriet Tubman
7. “If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.” — Harriet Tubman
8. “To be sure, deep slumbers settle down upon them as soon as they are seated, which continue undisturbed till the congregation is dismissed; but they have done their best, and who can doubt that they receive a blessing.” — Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman Quotes On Freedom

1. “My people are free!” — Harriet Tubman
2. “We’re rooted here, and they can’t pull us up.” — Harriet Tubman
3. “Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.” — Harriet Tubman
4. “No, sir; the Lord’s never mistaken! Anyhow I’m going to sit here till I get it.” — Harriet Tubman
5. “I had my jubilee three years ago. I rejoiced all I could then; I can’t rejoice no more.” — Harriet Tubman
6. “We would rather stay in our native land, if we could be as free there as we are here.” — Harriet Tubman
7. “There was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land.” — Harriet Tubman
8. “I had crossed the line. I was free; but, there was no one there to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land.” — Harriet Tubman
9. “Now I’ve been free, I know what a dreadful condition slavery is. I have seen hundreds of escaped slaves, but I never saw one who was willing to go back and be a slave.” — Harriet Tubman
10. “My home, after all, was down in Maryland, because my father, my mother, my brothers, and sisters, and friends were there. But I was free, and they should be free.” —  Harriet Tubman

Popular Quotes From Harriet Tubman

1. “I said to the Lord, I’m going to hold steady on to you, and I know you will see me through.” — Harriet Tubman
2. “I am a conductor of the Underground Railroad, and I will be recognized as such by posterity.” — Harriet Tubman
3. “We saw the lightning and that was the guns and then we heard the thunder and that was the big guns; and then we heard the rain falling and that was the blood falling; and when we came to get in the crops, it was dead men that we reaped.” — Harriet Tubman
4. “When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything; the sun came like gold through trees, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in Heaven.” — Harriet Tubman
5. “In my dreams and visions, I seemed to see a line, and on the other side of that line were green fields, and lovely flowers, and beautiful white ladies, who stretched out their arms to me over the line, but I couldn’t reach them no-how. I always fell before I got to the line.” — Harriet Tubman

More Harriet Tubman Quotes

1. “I would make a home for them in the North, and the Lord helping me, I would bring them all here.” — Harriet Tubman
2. “Quakers almost as good as colored. They call themselves friends and you can trust them every time.” — Harriet Tubman
3. “We was the fools, and the was the wise men; but we wasn’t fools enough to go down the high road in the broad daylight.” — Harriet Tubman
4. “From Christmas till March I worked as I could, and I prayed through all the long nights—I groaned and prayed for ole master: ‘Oh Lord, convert master!’ ‘Oh Lord, change dat man’s heart!’ ‘Pears like I prayed all the time.” — Harriet Tubman
5. “I ain’t got no heart to go and see the sufferings of my people played on the stage. I’ve heard ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ read, and I tell you Mrs. Stowe’s pen hasn’t begun to paint what slavery is as I have seen it at the far South. I’ve seen the real thing, and I don’t want to see it on no stage or in no theater.” — Harriet Tubman

Facts About Harriet Tubman

Here is a list of a few interesting facts about Harriet Tubman:-

1. Born as Araminta Ross, she adopted her mother’s first name, Harriet. Her surname comes from her first husband, John Tubman, whom she married in 1844.
2. Born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland, Harriet was the daughter of Harriet Green and Benjamin Ross and had eight siblings.
3. She earned the nickname “Moses” after the prophet Moses in the Bible who led his people to freedom. In all her rescue missions she “never lost a single passenger.”
4. Harriet knew important people who wanted to end slavery, like John Brown. They called her “General Tubman” because she was brave and respected.
5. She adopted one daughter, Gertie, after the Civil War with her second husband Nelson Davis.
6. Harriet had headaches, seizures, and strong dreams her whole life because she suffered a traumatic head injury as a teenager while trying to stand up for a fellow fieldhand. She believed these dreams were messages from God and they helped her guide people to freedom when she led them to the North.
7. She died in 1913 and was buried with military honors in Fort Hill Cemetery in New York.

Conclusion

What are your favorite Harriet Tubman quotes and sayings listed above? If there is a quote that we’ve missed then let us know in the comments section what your thoughts are.

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