Iola Leroy

Frances Harper

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Important Quotations Explained

1. I ain’t got nothing ‘gainst my ole Miss, except she sold my mother from me. And a boy ain’t nothin’ without his mother. I forgive her, but I never forget her, and never expect to. But if she were the best woman on earth I would rather have my freedom than belong to her.


2. Uncle Robert, [. . .] I have a theory that every woman ought to know how to earn her own living. [A] great amount of sin and misery springs from the weakness and inefficiency of women. [E]very woman should have some skill or art which would insure her at least a comfortable support. I believe that there would be less unhappy marriages if labor were more honored among women.


3. [. . .] Lindy warn’t satisfied wid rentin’ so I buyed a piece ob lan’, an’ I’se glad now I’se got it. Lindy’s got a lot ob gumption; knows most as much as a man. She ain’t got dat long head fer nuffin. She’s got lots ob sense, but I don’t like to tell her so.


4. “But, Mr. Bascom,” Harry said, “I do not understand this. It says my mother and father were legally married. How could her marriage be set aside and her children robbed of their inheritance? This is not a heathen country. I hardly think barbarians would have done any worse; yet this is called a Christian country.”
   “Christian in name,” answered the principal.


5. Doctor, were I your wife, are there not people who would caress me as a white woman who would shrink from me in scorn if they knew I had one drop of Negro blood in my veins? [. . .] No, Doctor, I am not willing to live under a shadow of concealment which I thoroughly hate as if the blood in my veins were an undetected crime of my soul.


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