WIST Quotations

Du Bois, W.E.B. -- “On the Future of the American Negro,” speech (Mar 1953)

Dave — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 18:36:34 +0000

We should measure the prosperity of a nation not by the number of millionaires, but by the absence of poverty, the prevalence of health, the efficiency of the public schools, and the number of people who can and do read worthwhile books.

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) American writer, historian, social reformer [William Edward Burghardt Du Bois]
“On the Future of the American Negro,” speech (Mar 1953)
(Source)

Du Bois, W.E.B. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 21 May 2015 12:27:26 +0000

A system cannot fail those it was never designed to protect.

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) American writer, historian, social reformer [William Edward Burghardt Du Bois]
(Attributed)

Du Bois, W.E.B. -- John Brown (1909)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) American writer, historian, social reformer [William Edward Burghardt Du Bois]
John Brown (1909)

Du Bois, W.E.B. -- John Brown, ch. 13 “The Legacy of John Brown” (1909)

Dave — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 17:31:46 +0000

Liberty trains for liberty. Responsibility is the first step in responsibility.

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) American writer, historian, social reformer [William Edward Burghardt Du Bois]
John Brown, ch. 13 “The Legacy of John Brown” (1909)
(Source)

On the policy among white colonial powers that non-whites "ought to be under the restraint and benevolent tutelage of stronger and wiser nations for their own benefit," until they are "capable" of being free.

Du Bois, W.E.B. -- The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, ch. 12, sec. 93 (1896)

Dave — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 18:53:30 +0000

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.

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) American writer, historian, social reformer [William Edward Burghardt Du Bois]
The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, ch. 12, sec. 93 (1896)
(Source)

Du Bois, W.E.B. -- Letter (1922)

Dave — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 13:25:31 +0000

The scars and foibles and contradictions of the Great do not diminish but enhance the worth and meaning of their upward struggle.

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) American writer, historian, social reformer [William Edward Burghardt Du Bois]
Letter (1922)

Writing of Abraham Lincoln.