Marian Wright Edelman Quotes
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So often we are depressed by what remains to be done and forget to be thankful for all that has been done.
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It's the new slavery. It came out of the drug laws and it really is something we're going to have to confront, but I don't see enough people up in arms about that. We need to be.
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We are willing to spend the least amount of money to keep a kid at home, more to put him in a foster home and the most to institutionalize him.
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If it's wrong for 13-year-old inner-city girls to have babies without the benefit of marriage, it's wrong for rich celebrities, and we ought to stop putting them on the cover of People magazine.
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Children don't vote but adults who do must stand up and vote for them.
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Don't be afraid of hard work.
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Don't wait for, expect, or rely on favors. Count on earning them by hard work and perseverance.
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Each American must remember and help America remember that the fellowship of human beings is more important than the fellowship of race and class and gender in a democratic society.
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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.
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No person has the right to rain on your dreams.
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We do not have a money problem in America. We have a values and priorities problem.
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If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much.
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We are not going to deal with the violence in our communities, our homes, and our nation, until we learn to deal with the basic ethic of how we resolve our disputes and to place an emphasis on peace in the way we relate to one another.
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I don't care what my children choose to do professionally, just as long as within their choices they understand they've got to give something back.
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A nation that does not stand for its children does not stand for anything and will not stand tall in the future.
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Amidst protestations of 'Who can be against the children?' too few people are FOR children when it really matters.
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It is [children] who are God's presence, promise and hope for mankind.
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Parents have become so convinced that educators know what is best for their children that they forget that they themselves are really the experts.
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Democracy cannot breathe, indeed will die, if those enjoined to protect it and uphold the laws snuff it out - with no consequences.
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Failure is just another way to learn how to do something right.
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Don't feel entitled to anything you didn't sweat and struggle for.
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There are so many noises and pulls and competing demands in our lives that many of us never find out who we are. Learn to be quiet enough to hear the sound of the genuine within yourself so that you can hear it in other people.
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You really can change the world if you care enough.
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We all need to get out of our safety zones too. In addition to voting, we need to embarrass people who don't do the right thing. It's going to take citizen action.