A man is sometimes made great, by the greatness of the abuse a portion of mankind may think proper to heap upon him.
 Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom (1855). copy citation

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

Context

“But the very contempt and scorn, the systematic and extravagant disparagement of which I was the object, served, perhaps, to magnify my few merits, and to render me of some account, whether deserving or not. A man is sometimes made great, by the greatness of the abuse a portion of mankind may think proper to heap upon him. Whether I was of as much consequence as the English papers made me out to be, or not, it was easily seen, in England, that I could not be the ignorant and worthless creature, some of the American papers would have them believe I was.” source