Nature does not make your existence depend upon me, or mine to depend upon yours.
 Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom (1855). copy citation

add
Author Frederick Douglass
Source My Bondage and My Freedom
Topic existence
Date 1855
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/202/202-h/202-h.htm

Context

“you are yourself; we are two distinct persons, equal persons. What you are, I am. You are a man, and so am I. God created both, and made us separate beings. I am not by nature bond to you, or you to me. Nature does not make your existence depend upon me, or mine to depend upon yours. I cannot walk upon your legs, or you upon mine. I cannot breathe for you, or you for me; I must breathe for myself, and you for yourself. We are distinct persons, and are each equally provided with faculties necessary to our individual existence.” source