Herein lies the tragedy of the age: Not that men are poor, – all men know something of poverty. Not that men are wicked, – who is good? Not that men are ignorant, – what is truth? Nay, but that men know so little of men.
W. E. B. DU BOIS
W. E. B. DU BOIS
W. E. B. Du Bois on age
W. E. B. Du Bois94 quotes“Herein lies the tragedy of the age: Not that men are poor, – all men know something of poverty. Not that men are wicked, – who is good? Not that men are ignorant, – what is truth? Nay, but that men know so little of men.”
More from W. E. B. Du Bois
The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois It is the stars, it is the ancient stars, it is the young and everlasting stars!
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois Nothing in the world is easier in the United States than to accuse a black man of crime.
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois Between me and the other world there is ever an unasked question: unasked by some through feelings of delicacy; by others through the difficulty of rightly framing it. All, nevertheless, flutter round it. How does it feel to be a problem?
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois There is but one coward on earth, and that is the coward that dare not know.
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois Progress in human affairs is more often a pull than a push, a surging forward of the exceptional man, and the lifting of his duller brethren slowly and painfully to his vantage-ground.
W. E. B. Du BoisW. 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.
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois Men must not only know, they must act.
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois All womanhood is hampered today because the world on which it is emerging is a world that tries to worship both virgins and mothers and in the end despises motherhood and despoils virgins.
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois No universal selfishness can bring social good to all.
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois I insist that the object of all true education is not to make men carpenters, it is to make carpenters men.
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois The main thing is the YOU beneath the clothes and skin–the ability to do, the will to conquer, the determination to understand and know this great, wonderful, curious world.
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois Ignorance is a cure for nothing.
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois Believe in life! Always human beings will live and progress to greater, broader, and fuller life.
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois The kind of sermon which is preached in most colored churches is not today attractive to even fairly intelligent men.
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois
Original quotes
From our community writers
Our only limitation is that we only believe what is visible to our eyes and audible to our ears.
Shilpa GoelShilpa Goel Some days, you will be close to the finish line and still not make it.
Sonia SabnisSonia Sabnis Life-transforming ideas have always come to me through books.
Bell HooksBell Hooks I separated someplace for each person in my heart, But she claimed to be the owner of it.
Moses AlexanderMoses Alexander Modern-day love stories are born not out of love, but a tired mind and a restless heart.
Puneet MehraPuneet Mehra Forcing things only creates more tension in the mind. Let go.
Ayaka HaseAyaka Hase It doesn’t take courage to find peace in the arms of destiny. It takes faith.
Anamika GargAnamika Garg I can’t wait to collect memories from every corner of the earth to splash in the vastness of this beautiful world.
Julia Kellogg HenryJulia Kellogg Henry
Meet the writers
More on age
From a very early age, I made my decisions based on careers that I admire. The one thing that all the actresses I love have in common is that they have diversity in their careers.
Olivia WildeOlivia Wilde My fans can see me grow up.
Becky GBecky G I was so poor for so long that I didn’t use anything. I didn’t drive cars, I didn’t eat very much. So, I figured the world owed me a debt, so I’ve been eating very well and have had a very big car for a long time. But I still haven’t caught up with my youth.
Michael CaineMichael Caine I’m the luckiest broad on two feet, I’ll tell you that. They say once a woman passes 40 she doesn’t get any good parts, so I’m blessed.
Betty WhiteBetty White My parents were journalists and friends with writers, artists, and just a really interesting assortment of people, so I was exposed to all lifestyles from a young age.
Olivia WildeOlivia Wilde Can you picture yourself at the age 60 doing what you do now?
Dick CavettDick Cavett This is the curse of our age, even the strangest aberrations are no cure for boredom.
StendhalStendhal We should think about whether canonizations, which are an invention of the Middle Ages, still make sense today.
Hans KungHans Kung