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The Question and Answer section for Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.
In context, he is saying that if you make a concession, you will be taken advantage of. This saying or quote first appeared in 1546 in a collection by John Heywood,
Although those are not the words he used, Douglass sae his employment in New Bedford... the day he began working for himself and his wife, the day that he truly became a man.
I found employment, the third day after my arrival, in stowing a sloop...
Douglass sees freedom everywhere and roused his "soul to eternal wakefulness". He still, however, remained enslaved.
