Home / Authors / W. E. B. Du Bois

W. E. B. Du Bois

W. E. B. Du Bois Quotes

Historian

W. E. B. Du Bois was an influential American historian, sociologist, civil rights activist, and writer. Born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois is renowned for his advocacy for the rights of African Americans. He co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and was a prominent figure in the civil rights movement. His seminal work, 'The Souls of Black Folk,' remains a foundational text in African American literature and thought.

Filter quotes by topic

All Men World Black Humans Race Ifs People White Believe Soul America Social Justice Color Culture I Believe Justice Knows Years Black History Doe

Famous W. E. B. Du Bois Quotes

“It is, then, the strife of all honorable men and women of the twentieth century to see that in the future competition of the races the survival of the fittest shall mean the triumph of the good, the beautiful, and the true; that we may be able to preserve for future civilization all that is really fine and noble and strong, and not continue to put a premium on greed and imprudence and cruelty.”

“Had it not been for the race problem early thrust upon me and enveloping me, I should have probably been an unquestioning worshipper at the shrine of the established social order and of the economic development into which I was born.”

Should Problem Order Social Born Race Economic Development Should Have Thrust Economic Development Social Order Shrines Worshippers

Author:W. E. B. Du Bois

“I most sincerely doubt if any other race of women could have brought its fineness up through so devilish a fire.”

Ifs Black Race Doubt Fire Black Women Sincerely Devilish

Author:W. E. B. Du Bois

“To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.”

Men Hard Poor Race Poverty Land Dollars Bottom Hardship Black History Poor Man Black History Month Ending Poverty Black History Month Inspirational Riches And Poors

Author:W. E. B. Du Bois

“Here is the chance for young women and young men of devotion to lift again the banner of humanity and to walk toward a civilization which will be free and intelligent; which will be healthy and unafraid; and build in the world a culture led by black folk and joined by peoples of all colors and all races - without poverty, ignorance and disease!”

Men World Young Humanity Culture Black Chance Walks Race Poverty Ignorance Color Civilization Healthy Disease Intelligent Folks Devotion Lifts Young Man Young Women Banner Unafraid

Author:W. E. B. Du Bois

“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line, -- the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea.”

Men Problem America Lines Race Sea Century Color Racism Relation Islands Asia Twentieth Century Racism In America Lighters Black Racism

Author:W. E. B. Du Bois

“I believe in pride of race and lineage and self: in pride of self so deep as to scorn injustice to other selves.”

Believe Self Culture I Believe Justice Race Pride Diversity Social Justice Injustice I Believe In Scorn Lineage

Book:Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil

Source: Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil

“Unless modern civilization is a failure, it is entirely feasible and practicable for two races in such essential political, economic and religious harmony as the white and colored people in America, to develop side by side in peace and mutual happiness, the peculiar contribution which each has to make to the culture of their common country.”

Source: The Problem of the Color Line at the Turn of the Twentieth Century: The Essential Early Essays

“Today I see more clearly than yesterday that the back of the problem of race and color lies a greater problem which both obscures and implements it: and that is the fact that so many civilized persons are willing to live in comfort even if the price of this is poverty, ignorance, and disease of the majority of their fellow men.”

Ifs Men Persons Facts Problem Today Lying Race Poverty Greater Ignorance Color Willing Comfort Disease Fellows Majority Yesterday Civilized Fellow Man Race And Color

Author:W. E. B. Du Bois

“There can be no perfect democracy curtailed by color, race, or poverty. But with all we accomplish all, even peace.”

Perfect Race Poverty Democracy Color Accomplish

Book:The World and Africa and Color and Democracy

Source: The World and Africa and Color and Democracy

“I believe in pride of race and lineage and self: in pride of self so deep as to scorn injustice to other selves; in pride of lineage so great as to despise no man's father; in pride of race so chivalrous as neither to offer bastardy to the weak nor beg wedlock of the strong, knowing that men may be brothers in Christ, even though they be not brothers-in-law.”

Source: W. E. B. Du Bois: Selections from His Writings

“Race prejudice decreases values, both real estate and human.”

Humans Real Values Race Prejudice Estates Decrease Ignorance And Prejudice

Author:W. E. B. Du Bois

“Most men in this world are colored. A belief in humanity means a belief in colored men. The future world will, in all reasonable probability, be what colored men make it.”

Men World Mean Humanity Belief Race Possibility This World Reasonable

Author:W. E. B. Du Bois

“Raphael painted, Luther preached, Corneille wrote, and Milton sang; and through it all, for four hundred years, the dark captives wound to the sea amid the bleaching bones of the dead: for four hundred years the sharks followed the scurrying ships; for four hundred years America was strewn with the living and dying millions of a transplanted race; for four hundred years Ethiopia stretched forth her hands unto God.”

Source: Black Folk Then and Now (The Oxford W.E.B. Du Bois): An Essay in the History and Sociology of the Negro Race