Chris ChalkQuotes

Robert: I say we fight.

Solomon Northup: The crew is fairly small. If it were well planned, I believe they could be strong armed.

Clemens: Three can't stand against a whole crew. The rest here are niggers, born and bred slaves. Niggers ain't got the stomach for a fight, not a damn one.

Robert: All I know, we get where we traveling we'll wish we'd died trying.

Clemens: Survival is not about certain death, it is about keeping your head down.

Solomon Northup: Days ago I was with my family, in my home. Now you tell me all is lost. "Tell no one who I really am" if I want to survive. I don't want to survive, I want to live.

Solomon Northup: We need a sympathetic ear. If we have an opportunity to explain our situation...

Clemens: Who in your estimation is that sympathetic ear?

Solomon Northup: The two men I journeyed with. I'm certain they're making inquires at this very moment.

Clemens: I would be just as certain they are counting the money paid for delivering you to this place.

Solomon Northup: They were not kidnappers. They were artists. Fellow performers.

Clemens: You know that? You know for certain who they were?

Clemens: How I reckon the situation: whatever past we had... well, that's done now. The reality to come is us being transported southward. New Orleans if I were to venture. After we arrive, we'll be put to market. Beyond that... Well, once in a slave state I suppose there's only one outcome.

Clemens: [[w:Black Codes (United States)|do and say as little as possible. Tell no one who you really are and tell no one that you can read and write.] If you want to survive, ] Unless you want to be a dead nigger.