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Marian Wright Edelman Quotes

The future which we hold in trust for our own children will be shaped by our fairness to other people's children.

Marian Wright Edelman

The future which we hold in trust for our own children will be shaped by our fairness to other people's children.

Tags: future, trust, children, people

Children under five are the poorest age group in America, and one in four infants, toddlers and preschoolers are poor during the years of greatest brain development.

Marian Wright Edelman

Children under five are the poorest age group in America, and one in four infants, toddlers and preschoolers are poor during the years of greatest brain development.

Tags: age

About Author
Marian Wright Edelman (née Wright; born June 6, 1939) is an American activist for civil rights and children's rights. She is the founder and president emerita of the Children's Defense Fund. She influenced leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr.

I try to act out of faith.

Marian Wright Edelman

I try to act out of faith.

Tags: faith

You just need to be a flea against injustice. Enough committed fleas biting strategically can make even the biggest dog uncomfortable and transform even the biggest nation.

Marian Wright Edelman

You just need to be a flea against injustice. Enough committed fleas biting strategically can make even the biggest dog uncomfortable and transform even the biggest nation.

Tags: activist, change, injustice, transform

No person has the right to rain on your dreams.

Marian Wright Edelman

No person has the right to rain on your dreams.

Tags: dreams, dream, self, acceptance

If we think we have ours and don't owe any time or money or effort to help those left behind, then we are a part of the problem rather than the solution to the fraying social fabric that threatens all...

Marian Wright Edelman

If we think we have ours and don't owe any time or money or effort to help those left behind, then we are a part of the problem rather than the solution to the fraying social fabric that threatens all...

Tags: money, time

There should not be one new dime in tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires as long as millions of children in America are poor, hungry, uneducated and without health coverage.

Marian Wright Edelman

There should not be one new dime in tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires as long as millions of children in America are poor, hungry, uneducated and without health coverage.

Tags: health

Being considerate of others will take your children further in life than any college degree.

Marian Wright Edelman

Being considerate of others will take your children further in life than any college degree.

Tags: graduation, consideration, manners, teaching

Service is the rent we pay for the life we have been given.

Marian Wright Edelman

Service is the rent we pay for the life we have been given.

Tags: altruism, conservative, liberal, libertarian, politics, progressive, selfishness

It was very clear to me in 1965, in Mississippi, that, as a lawyer, I could get people into schools, desegregate the schools, but if they were kicked off the plantations - and if they didn't have food...

Marian Wright Edelman

It was very clear to me in 1965, in Mississippi, that, as a lawyer, I could get people into schools, desegregate the schools, but if they were kicked off the plantations - and if they didn't have food...

Tags: food, health, success

In politics, there are no friends.

Marian Wright Edelman

In politics, there are no friends.

Tags: politics

A nation that does not stand for its children does not stand for anything and will not stand tall in the future.

Marian Wright Edelman

A nation that does not stand for its children does not stand for anything and will not stand tall in the future.

Tags: future, children, stand, nation

You really can change the world if you care enough.

Marian Wright Edelman

You really can change the world if you care enough.

Tags: change, helping, people

Don't be afraid of hard work.

Marian Wright Edelman

Don't be afraid of hard work.

Tags: work

I feel very lucky to have grown up having interaction with adults who were making change but who were far from perfect beings. That feeling of not being paralyzed by your incredible inadequacy as a hu...

Marian Wright Edelman

I feel very lucky to have grown up having interaction with adults who were making change but who were far from perfect beings. That feeling of not being paralyzed by your incredible inadequacy as a hu...

Tags: day, legacy, perfect

The legacy I want to leave is a child-care system that says no kid is going to be left alone or left unsafe.

Marian Wright Edelman

The legacy I want to leave is a child-care system that says no kid is going to be left alone or left unsafe.

Tags: helping, people

Unless children have strong education and strong families and strong communities and decent housing, it's not enough to go sit in at a lunch counter.

Marian Wright Edelman

Unless children have strong education and strong families and strong communities and decent housing, it's not enough to go sit in at a lunch counter.

Tags: education, children, strong, lunch

Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.

Marian Wright Edelman

Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.

Tags: education, community, world, leaving

We must not... ignore the small daily differences we can make which over time add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

Marian Wright Edelman

We must not... ignore the small daily differences we can make which over time add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

Tags: time

If you don't like the way the world is, you change it. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time.

Marian Wright Edelman

If you don't like the way the world is, you change it. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time.

Tags: change, positive, time, world, step