Marian Wright Edelman Quotes

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

You didn't have a choice about the parents you inherited, but you do have a choice about the kind of parent you will be.

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

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

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.

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.

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

You can't be what you can't see.

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

You were born God's original. Try not to become someone's copy.

If things are too easy, life is a whole lot less interesting.

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

Don't assume a door is closed; push on it. Don't assume if it was closed yesterday that it is closed today. Don't ever stop learning and improving your mind. If you do, you're going to be left behind.

Character, self-discipline, determination, attitude and service are the substance of life.

You really can change the world if you care enough.