W. E. B. Du Bois Quotes
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American sociologist, philosopher, historian, and civil rights leader. The first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard, he produced pioneering empirical studies of Black life in the United States and articulated, in The Souls of Black Folk, the experience of double consciousness that would shape Black thought and Black studies for a century. The quotes below are attributed to W. E. B. Du Bois, organized by topic.
Browse W. E. B. Du Bois by topic
W. E. B. Du Bois on Freedom
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“The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.”
John Brown : A Biography (1909): "The Legacy of John Brown -
Attributed to W. E. B. Du Bois:
“There is in this world no such force as the force of a man determined to rise.”
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“The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870 (1897), ch. XII: The Essentials in the Struggle, paragraph 93: "The Moral Movement”
There is always a certain glamour about the idea of a nation rising up to crush an evil simply because it is wrong. Unfortunately, this can seldom be realized in real life; for the very existence of the evil usually argues a moral weakness in the very place where extraordinary moral strength is called for. -
“To the Nations of the World , address to Pan-African conference, London (1900). These words are also found in The Souls of Black Folk (1903), ch. II: Of the Dawn of Freedom”
The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.
W. E. B. Du Bois on Knowledge
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Attributed to W. E. B. Du Bois:
“Education must not simply teach work; it must teach life.”
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“W. E. B. Du Bois, quoted in John M. Hobson. The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation. New York: Bridge University Press, 2004.”
It has long been the belief of modern men that the history of Europe covers the essential history of civilization, with unimportant exceptions; that the progress of the white [Europeans] has been along the one natural, normal path to the highest possible human culture. -
“There is but one coward on earth, and that is the coward that dare not know.”
The Study of the Negro Problems, paragraph 51, in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science , vol. XI (January 1898) -
“The Talented Tenth , published as the second chapter of The Negro Problem, a collection of articles by African Americans (New York: James Pott and Company, 1903)”
I insist that the object of all true education is not to make men carpenters, it is to make carpenters men. -
“Niagara Movement Speech" (1905)”
The school system in the country districts of the South is a disgrace and in few towns and cities are Negro schools what they ought to be. We want the national government to step in and wipe out illiteracy in the South. Either the United States will destroy ignorance or ignorance will destroy the United States. And when we call for education we mean real education. We believe in work . We ourselve
W. E. B. Du Bois on Life
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“There is always a certain glamour about the idea of a nation rising up to crush an evil simply because it is wrong. Unfortunately, this can seldom be realized in real life; for the very existence of the evil usually argues a moral weakness in the very place where extraordinary moral strength is called for.”
The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870 (1897), ch. XII: The Essentials in the Struggle, paragraph 93: "The Moral Movement
W. E. B. Du Bois on Mind
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Attributed to W. E. B. Du Bois:
“It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others.”
W. E. B. Du Bois on Nature
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“It has long been the belief of modern men that the history of Europe covers the essential history of civilization, with unimportant exceptions; that the progress of the white [Europeans] has been along the one natural, normal path to the highest possible human culture.”
W. E. B. Du Bois, quoted in John M. Hobson. The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation. New York: Bridge University Press, 2004.
W. E. B. Du Bois on Politics
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“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.”
To the Nations of the World , address to Pan-African conference, London (1900). These words are also found in The Souls of Black Folk (1903), ch. II: Of the Dawn of Freedom
W. E. B. Du Bois on Time
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Attributed to W. E. B. Du Bois:
“Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season.”
W. E. B. Du Bois on Truth
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“I insist that the object of all true education is not to make men carpenters, it is to make carpenters men.”
The Talented Tenth , published as the second chapter of The Negro Problem, a collection of articles by African Americans (New York: James Pott and Company, 1903)