Political Quotes

W.E.B. Du Bois: Neither Roman nor Arab, Greek nor Egyptian, Persian nor Mongol ever took himself and his own perfectness with such…

On the record
Neither Roman nor Arab, Greek nor Egyptian, Persian nor Mongol ever took himself and his own perfectness with such disconcerting seriousness as the modern white man.
Said by
W.E.B. Du Bois

Editor's note · Context

In this passage, Du Bois comments on the seriousness with which modern white society regards itself, contrasting it with historical civilizations.

Share

More from W.E.B. Du Bois

Jan 1, 1903

Then it dawned upon me with a certain suddenness that I was different from the others; or like, mayhap, in heart and life and longing, but shut out from their world by a vast veil.

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1903

This waste of double aims, this seeking to satisfy two unreconciled ideals, has wrought sad havoc with the courage and faith and deeds of ten thousand thousand people,—has sent them often wooing false gods and invoking false means of…

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1903

The holocaust of war, the terrors of the Ku-Klux Klan, the lies of carpet-baggers, the disorganization of industry, and the contradictory advice of friends and foes, left the bewildered serf with no new watchword beyond the old cry for…

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1903

Fully ninety-four per cent have struggled for land and failed, and half of them sit in hopeless serfdom.

gutenberg.org