35 Carter G. Woodson Quotes From The 'Father Of Black History'

Carter Godwin Woodson was an American historian and author.

Woodson associated great importance to education. Given his humble beginnings, a good education was hard for him to achieve, however, he ultimately attained a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University.

Woodson believed studying history was an important part of becoming a productive citizen. He conducted detailed studies about African American history.

He wrote various books and magazines, he also approached schools and the general public to introduce Black History Month to recognize the contributions of African Americans in history which are often overlooked. He hoped all Americans would willingly recognize the contributions of African Americans. Here are Carter G Woodson quotes.

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Quotes By Carter G Woodson

Here are a few Carter G Woodson quotes from his book inspired by life experiences and knowledge.

1."If you can control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do."

-Carter G. Woodson,' The Mis-Education of The Negro'

2."... If you make a man think he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one."

- Carter G. Woodson,' The Mis-Education of The Negro'

3."...If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself."

-Carter G. Woodson,' The Mis-Education of The Negro'

4."Philosophers have long conceded, however, that every man has two educators: that which is given to him, and the other that which he gives himself. Of the two kinds, the latter is by far the most desirable..."

-Carter G. Woodson,' The Mis-Education of The Negro'

5."It is that which constitutes our real and best nourishment. What we are merely taught seldom nourishes the mind like that which we teach ourselves."

-Carter G. Woodson,' The Mis-Education of The Negro'

6."Indeed all that is most worthy in man he must work out and conquer for himself. "

-Carter G. Woodson,' The Mis-Education of The Negro'

7."It may be well to repeat here the saying that old men talk of what they have done, young men of what they are doing, and fools of what they expect to do..."

-Carter G. Woodson,' The Mis-Education of The Negro'

8."History shows that it does not matter who is in power or what revolutionary forces take over the government, those who have not learned to do for themselves and have to depend solely on others never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they had in the beginning."

-Carter G. Woodson,' The Mis-Education of The Negro'

9."When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his proper place and will stay in it...His education makes it necessary."

-Carter G. Woodson,' The Mis-Education of The Negro'

Carter G Woodson Quotes On Education

Carter G Woodson worked hard to introduce education of African American history into the curriculum to recognize their valuable contributions and role in American history. Here are Carter G Woodson quotes about education.

10."For me education means to inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better."

-Carter G. Woodson

11."Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose their inspiration which comes from teaching biography and history."

-Carter G. Woodson

12."The mere imparting of information is not education. Above all things, the effort must result in making a man think and do for himself."

-Carter G. Woodson

13."The large majority of the negroes who have put on the finishing touches of our best colleges are all but worthless in the development of their people."

-Carter G. Woodson

14."This crusade is more important than the anti-lynching movement because there would be no lynching if it did not start in the classroom."

-Carter G. Woodson

15."The thought of the inferiority of the negro is drilled into him in almost every class he enters and in almost every book he studies."

-Carter G. Woodson

16."In our so-called democracy, we are accustomed to give the majority what they want rather than educate them to understand what is best for them."

-Carter G. Woodson

17."Our most widely known scholars have been trained in universities outside of the South."

-Carter G. Woodson

18."As another has well said, to handicap a student by teaching him that his black face is a curse and that his struggle to change his condition is hopeless is the worst sort of lynching."

-Carter G. Woodson

Dr. Carter G Woodson Quotes On Race

African American people faced bias on various grounds throughout history from hence Woodson considered it important for all Americans to know about their past. Here are Carter G Woodson quotes on race.

19."The oppressor has always indoctrinated the weak with his interpretation of the crimes of the strong."

-Carter G. Woodson,' The Mis-Education of The Negro'

20."If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in the danger of being exterminated."

-Carter G. Woodson

21."In the long run, there is not much discrimination against superior talent."

-Carter G. Woodson

22."The differentness of races moreover is no evidence of superiority or of inferiority. This merely indicates that each race has certain gifts which the others do not possess."

-Carter G. Woodson

23."If the negro in the ghetto must eternally be fed by the hand that pushes him into the ghetto, he will never become strong enough to get out of the ghetto."

-Carter G. Woodson

24."In fact, the confidence of people is worth more than money."

-Carter G. Woodson

25."I'm ready to act if I can brave men to help me."

-Carter G. Woodson

26."Let us banish fear."

-Carter G. Woodson

27."No man knows what he can do until he tries."

-Carter G. Woodson

28."The author takes the position that the consumer pays the tax, and as such every individual of the social order should be given unlimited opportunity to make the most of himself."

-Carter G. Woodson

29."If a white man wants to hold on to it, let him do so; but the Negro, so far as he is able, should develop and carry out a program of his own."

-Carter G. Woodson

30."The real servant of the people must live among them, think with them, feel for them, and die for them."

-Carter G. Woodson

31."The race needs workers, not leaders."

-Carter G. Woodson

32."At this moment, then, the Negroes must begin to do the very thing which they have been taught they cannot do."

-Carter G. Woodson

33."Truth comes to us from the past, then, like gold washed down from the mountains."

-Carter G. Woodson

34."You must give your own story to the world."

-Carter G. Woodson

35."What we need is a history of selected races or nations of the world void of national bias, race, hate, and religious prejudice."

-Carter G. Woodson

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