Marian Wright Edelman Quotes

Quotes about:

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

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Education, Learning, Community

  Marian Wright Edelman (2013). “The Measure of our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours”, p.18, Beacon Press

  147 Copy quote

• Children must have at least one person who believes in them. It could be a counselor, a teacher, a preacher, a friend. It could be you. You never know when a little love, a little support will plant a small seed of hope.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Teacher, Children, Believe

  112 Copy quote

• We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Inspirational, Peace, Women

  Marian Wright Edelman (1987). “Families in Peril: An Agenda for Social Change”, p.107, Harvard University Press

  80 Copy quote

• Be real. Try to do what you say, say what you mean, and be what you seem.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Real, Mean, Trying

  Marian Wright Edelman (2013). “Lanterns: A Memoir of Mentors”, p.213, Beacon Press

  38 Copy quote

• The question is not whether we can afford to invest in every child; it is whether we can afford not to.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Children, Black History

  Marian Wright Edelman (2013). “The Measure of our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours”, p.79, Beacon Press

  103 Copy quote

• 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

  Dog, Justice, African American

  115 Copy quote

• Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  Marian Wright Edelman (2013). “The Measure of our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours”, p.15, Beacon Press

  92 Copy quote

• It is so important not to let ourselves off the hook or to become apathetic or cynical by telling ourselves that nothing works or makes a difference. Every day, light your small candle.... The inaction and actions of many human beings over a long time contributed to the crises our children face, and it is the action and struggle of many human beings over time that will solve them-with God's help. So every day, light your small candle.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Children, Struggle, Light

  73 Copy quote

• Be a good ancestor. Stand for something bigger than yourself. Add value to the Earth during your sojourn.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Add, Earth, Bigger

  Marian Wright Edelman (2013). “Lanterns: A Memoir of Mentors”, p.7, Beacon Press

  62 Copy quote

• It's time for greatness - not for greed. It's a time for idealism - not ideology. It is a time not just for compassionate words, but compassionate action.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Greatness, Compassion, Greed

  81 Copy quote

• You're not obligated to win. You're obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Inspiring, Happiness, Success

  96 Copy quote

• 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

  Children, Doe, Tall

  "Be Careful What You Cut" by Marian Wright Edelman, www.huffingtonpost.com. August 10, 2012.

  62 Copy quote

• You can't be what you can't see.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  27 Copy quote

• Investing in [children] is not a national luxury or a national choice. It's a national necessity. If the foundation of your house is crumbling, you don't say you can't afford to fix it while you're building astronomically expensive fences to protect it from outside enemies. The issue is not are we going to pay - it's are we going to pay now, up front, or are we going to pay a whole lot more later on.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Children, Luxury, Issues

  71 Copy quote

• 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

  Children, People, Social Justice

  "Why do Politicians Feel Free to Hack Away at Special Education?" by Laurie Levy, www.huffingtonpost.com. October 30, 2017.

  60 Copy quote

• Learn to be quiet enough to hear the genuine within yourself so that you can hear it in others.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Inspiring, Meditation, Quiet

  Marian Wright Edelman (2013). “The Measure of our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours”, p.61, Beacon Press

  73 Copy quote

• Failure is just another way to learn how to do something right.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Inspirational, Failure, Writing

  Marian Wright Edelman (1987). “Families in Peril: An Agenda for Social Change”, p.112, Harvard University Press

  27 Copy quote

• Never let us confuse what is legal with what is right. Everything Hitler did in Nazi Germany was legal, but it was not right.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Law, Principles, Germany

  32 Copy quote

• Don't feel entitled to anything you didn't sweat and struggle for.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Inspiring, Perseverance, Work

  40 Copy quote

• 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

  Change, Inspiring, Peace

  38 Copy quote

• It really takes a community to raise children, no matter how much money one has. Nobody can do it well alone. And it's the bedrock security of community that we and our children need.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Children, Community, Needs

  25 Copy quote

• Never work just for money or for power. They won't save your soul or help you sleep at night.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Inspiring, Money, Work

  Marian Wright Edelman (2013). “The Measure of our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours”, p.39, Beacon Press

  17 Copy quote

• When Jesus Christ asked little children to come to him, he didn't say only rich children, or White children, or children with two-parent families, or children who didn't have a mental or physical handicap. He said, Let all children come unto me.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Jesus, Children, Godly

  54 Copy quote

• No person has the right to rain on your dreams.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Inspirational, Inspiring, Dream

  Marian Wright Edelman (2013). “The Measure of our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours”, p.29, Beacon Press

  53 Copy quote

• The outside world told black kids when I was growing up that we weren't worth anything. But our parents said it wasn't so, and our churches and our schoolteachers said it wasn't so. They believed in us, and we, therefore, believed in ourselves.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Inspirational, Growing Up, Kids

  33 Copy quote

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