Who said “To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom…”?

Verified

W. E. B. Du Bois. A published source records them saying or writing it.

SourceThe Souls of Black Folk (1903)

Find The Souls of Black Folk on Amazon · paid link

Evidence: Wikiquote · How we check

Source checked · Something wrong? Report a correction

Authors A–Z

Cite this quote

For academic work, cite the original where you can: The Souls of Black Folk (1903).

APA

Bois, W. E. B. D. (n.d.). To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships. [Quotation]. Famous Quotations Network. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/33614-to-be-a-poor-man-is-hard-but/

MLA

Bois, W. E. B. Du. “To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.” Famous Quotations Network, https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/33614-to-be-a-poor-man-is-hard-but/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Bois, W. E. B. Du. “To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.” Famous Quotations Network. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/33614-to-be-a-poor-man-is-hard-but/.

Related quotes

More quotes by W. E. B. Du Bois

“There are certain books in the world which every searcher for truth must know: the Bible, the Critique of Pure Reason, the Origin of Species, and Karl Marx's Capital.”
Books: Classics
Report
“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. It was a phase of this problem that caused the Civil War.”
Race and Racism
Report
All 3 W. E. B. Du Bois quotes →