Famous Quotes from W.E.B. DuBois


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Labeled as a "radical," he was ignored by those who hoped that his massive contributions would be buried along side of him. But, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, "history cannot ignore W.E.B. DuBois because history has to reflect truth and Dr. DuBois was a tireless explorer and a gifted discoverer of social truths. His singular greatness lay in his quest for truth about his own people. There were very few scholars who concerned themselves with honest study of the black man and he sought to fill this immense void. The degree to which he succeeded disclosed the great dimensions of the man."


"Freedom is a state of mind: a spiritual unchoking of the wells of human power and superhuman love."
                                    --  W.E.B DuBois


"I am especially glad of the divine gift of laughter; it has made the world human and lovable, despite all its pain and wrong."
                                   -- W.E.B. Dubois


The cost of liberty is less than the cost of repression.
                                  --W.E.B. Dubois


"There is in this world no such force as the force of a man determined to rise".
                                  -- W.E.B. Dubois


Dubois opposed the views of Booker T. Washington who advocated accommodation. He wrote in his essays, "When Mr. Washington apologizes for injustice, he does not rightly value the privilege and duty of voting, belittles the emasculating effects of caste distinctions, and opposes the higher training and ambition of our higher minds. We must unceasingly and firmly oppose him."
                                --  W.E.B. DuBois


If there is anybody in this land who thoroughly believes that the meek shall inherit the earth, they have not often let their presence be known.
                               -- W.E.B. DuBois


One ever feels his two-ness- an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
                                -- W.E.B. DuBois

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