25 Harriet Tubman Quotes: Lessons in Bravery and Resilience

Harriet Tubman quotes about bravery and resilience. (Photo: National Portrait Gallery - Public Domain)

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - If you feel sad and down, and need some extra boosts of motivation, you should try to read these powerful Harriet Tubman quotes.

Harriet Tubman was a wonderful black-American woman and an important figure in American history. She was born as a slave in 1822. She nearly killed at the age of 13 after she got a blow to her head. That experience became her motivation to fight for her freedom.

In 1849, she sucessfully freed herself from slavery. She ran away after her master died. After that, she became a strong figure who fight to end the slavery and for the rights of black-American people. She even served the United States Army as a spy, scout, nure, and cook, during the Civil War.

Harriet Tubman is a very inspirational figure that can teach us about many things. By reading Harriet Tubman quotes, we can learn more about her thinking and courage to fight for other people and our future.

In this article, we have selected some of the best Harriet Tubman quotes from various sources, Thursday (18/12/2025). These quotes are a powerful motivators that always remind you to be brave to fight for a better future.

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25 Harriet Tubman Quotes: Lessons in Bravery and Resilience

1. "Slavery is the next thing to hell." - Harriet Tubman

2. "Lord, I'm going to hold steady on to You and You've got to see me through." - Harriet Tubman

3. "I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other." - Harriet Tubman

4. "The Lord who told me to take care of my people meant me to do it just as long as I live, and so I did what he told me." - Harriet Tubman

5. "I was the 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

6. "I started with this idea in my head, 'There's two things I've got a right to, death or liberty.'" - Harriet Tubman

7. "I would fight for my liberty so long as my strength lasted, and if the time came for me to go, the Lord would let them take me." - Harriet Tubman

8. "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

9. "I grew up like a neglected weed - ignorant of liberty, having no experience of it." - Harriet Tubman

10. "I can't die but once." - Harriet Tubman

11. “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

12. “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

13. “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

14. “There was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land.” - Harriet Tubman

15. “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

16. “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

17. "You'll be free or die!" - Harriet Tubman

18. "I think there's many a slaveholder'll get to Heaven. They don't know better. They acts up to the light they have." - Harriet Tubman

19. “I paid a lawyer $5 to look up the will of my mother's first master. He looked back sixty years, and said it was time to give up. I told him to go back further.” - Harriet Tubman

20. "Every great dream begins with a dreamer." - Harriet Tubman

21. "Never wound a snake; kill it." - Harriet Tubman

22. “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

23. “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.” - Harriet Tubman

24. “If I could have convinced more slaves that they were slaves, I could have freed thousands more.” - Harriet Tubman

25. “..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