--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: until I had wandered beyond railways…" description: "\"“until I had wandered beyond railways, beyond stage lines, to a land of \"varmints\" and rattlesnakes, where the coming of a stranger was an event, and m..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/070/w-e-b-du-bois-2-12864_wandered_until-i-had-wandered-beyond-railways-bey_844496.jpg" --- # until I had wandered beyond railways, beyond stage lines… ![“until I had wandered beyond railways, beyond stage lines, to a land of "varmints" and rattlesnakes, where the coming of a stranger was an event, and men lived and died in the shadow of one blue hill.” quote by W.E.B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/070/w-e-b-du-bois-2-12864_wandered_until-i-had-wandered-beyond-railways-bey_844496.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/070/w-e-b-du-bois-2-12864_wandered_until-i-had-wandered-beyond-railways-bey_844496.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/070/w-e-b-du-bois-2-12864_wandered_until-i-had-wandered-beyond-railways-bey_844496.jpg) > ““until I had wandered beyond railways, beyond stage lines, to a land of "varmints" and rattlesnakes, where the coming of a stranger was an event, and men lived and died in the shadow of one blue hill.”” [W.E.B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Explores alienation and danger in unfamiliar, harsh landscapes, reflecting broader social marginalization. **In simple terms:** Strange lands reveal danger and isolation. Key Takeaway Seek empathy for those on society’s margins. Themes alienation danger identity landscape Mood reflective poetic Type literary sociological When to use this quote - urban migration - racial displacement - environmental hazards Key Concepts sociology literature colonialism Questions to Reflect On - How does environment shape identity? - What does “blue hill” symbolize? A Different Perspective Interpretation may vary by cultural context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Coming Stranger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coming-stranger-680261/) [Men Lived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-lived-335324/) [Rattlesnakes Coming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rattlesnakes-coming-680262/) [Wandered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wandered/) [Wandered Railways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wandered-railways-680260/) ## Related quotes > [“Oh my soul, be prepared for the coming of the Stranger. Be prepared for him who knows how to ask questions. 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A copper, that's who. (...)You saw how close men lived to the beast. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/who-knew-what-evil-lurked-in-the-hearts-of-men-a-copper-that-s-who/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“What manner of men had lived in those days...who had so eagerly surrendered their sovereignty for a lie and a delusion? Why had they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-caldwell/what-manner-of-men-had-lived-in-those-days-who-had-so-eagerly/) [Taylor Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-caldwell/) > [Men who have lived significant lives are men who never waited: not for money, security, ease, or women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-deida/men-who-have-lived-significant-lives-are-men-who-never-waited-not-for/) [David Deida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-deida/) ## More by W.E.B. Du Bois > [“The South believed an educated Negro to be a dangerous Negro. And the South was not wholly wrong; for education among all kinds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois-2/the-south-believed-an-educated-negro-to-be-a-dangerous-negro-and-the/) [W.E.B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois-2/) > [“So flagrant became the political scandals that reputable men began to leave politics alone, and politics consequently became disreputable. Men began to pride themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois-2/so-flagrant-became-the-political-scandals-that-reputable-men-began-to/) [W.E.B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois-2/) > [“A university is a human invention for the transmission of knowledge and culture from generation to generation, through the training of quick minds and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois-2/a-university-is-a-human-invention-for-the-transmission-of-knowledge/) [W.E.B. 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Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois-2/) > [“Lo! we are diseased and dying, cried the dark hosts; we cannot write, our voting is vain; what need of education, since we must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois-2/lo-we-are-diseased-and-dying-cried-the-dark-hosts-we-cannot-write-our/) [W.E.B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois-2/) > [“Not a single Southern legislature stood ready to admit a Negro, under any conditions, to the polls; not a single Southern legislature believed free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois-2/not-a-single-southern-legislature-stood-ready-to-admit-a-negro-under/) [W.E.B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois-2/) > [“I sit with Shakespeare, and he winces not. Across the color line I move arm and arm with Balzac and Dumas, where smiling men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois-2/i-sit-with-shakespeare-and-he-winces-not-across-the-color-line-i-move/) [W.E.B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois-2/) > [“He began to have a dim feeling that, to attain his place in the world, he must be himself, and not another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois-2/he-began-to-have-a-dim-feeling-that-to-attain-his-place-in-the-world/) [W.E.B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois-2/) > [“Thus it is doubly difficult to write of this period calmly, so intense was the feeling, so mighty the human passions that swayed and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois-2/thus-it-is-doubly-difficult-to-write-of-this-period-calmly-so-intense/) [W.E.B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois-2/) > [“perhaps, having already reached conclusions in our own minds, we are loth to have them disturbed by facts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois-2/perhaps-having-already-reached-conclusions-in-our-own-minds-we-are/) [W.E.B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois-2/) > [“was at first bitter, and showed itself in ashes, insult, and blood; for the South believed an educated Negro to be a dangerous Negro.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois-2/was-at-first-bitter-and-showed-itself-in-ashes-insult-and-blood-for/) [W.E.B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois-2/) > [“ Joseph Stalin was a great man; few other men of the 20th century approach his stature. He was simple, calm and courageous. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois-2/joseph-stalin-was-a-great-man-few-other-men-of-the-20th-century/) [W.E.B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois-2/) > [“High in the tower, where I sit above the loud complaining of the human sea, I know many souls that toss and whirl and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois-2/high-in-the-tower-where-i-sit-above-the-loud-complaining-of-the-human/) [W.E.B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois-2/) [Explore all 53 W.E.B. Du Bois quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois-2/) ## More Wandered quotes > [My loneliness...still comes over me sometimes...It's a liminal, lost sensation of having wandered wide, endless boulevards, among rows of orange trees, winter butterflies, seasons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-roth/my-loneliness-still-comes-over-me-sometimes-it-s-a-liminal-lost/) [Marco Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-roth/) > [“Yet there was always in me, even when I was very small, the sense that I ought to be somewhere else. And wander I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/yet-there-was-always-in-me-even-when-i-was-very-small-the-sense-that/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [“I wandered around for hours, dodging falling poo in alleyways”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-collins/i-wandered-around-for-hours-dodging-falling-poo-in-alleyways/) [Tim Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-collins/) > [So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/so-two-or-three-cities-wandered-unto-one-city-to-drink-water-but-they/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [“When had it happened? When had (she) stolen all the warm, tender places inside me for herself? And the rough, barbaric ones, too? It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-canterbary/when-had-it-happened-when-had-she-stolen-all-the-warm-tender-places/) [Kate Canterbary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-canterbary/) > [I didn't like writing just articles and things. So then I wandered around. I tried my hand at film and television and that was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/i-didn-t-like-writing-just-articles-and-things-so-then-i-wandered/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [“Then Darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far on roads that I will not tell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-gandalf-the-white/then-darkness-took-me-and-i-strayed-out-of-thought-and-time-and-i/) [J.R.R. Tolkien Gandalf the White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-gandalf-the-white/) > [When I was growing up, if there was a Young Adult section of my town's library, I missed it. 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She imagined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/sleeping-and-waking-the-notion-of-being-lost-of-having-wandered-out/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [I wandered around not knowing what I was doing in The Great Waldo Pepper and feeling pretty lost, and they rightly cut my part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-kidder/i-wandered-around-not-knowing-what-i-was-doing-in-the-great-waldo/) [Margot Kidder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-kidder/) > [Israel is slightly smaller than New Jersey. Moses in effect led the tribes of Israel out of the District of Columbia, parted Chesapeake Bay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/israel-is-slightly-smaller-than-new-jersey-moses-in-effect-led-the/) [P. J. 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