Marian Wright Edelman
Marian Wright Edelman
Marian Wright Edelmanis an American activist for the rights of children. She has been an advocate for disadvantaged Americans for her entire professional life. She is president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActivist
Date of Birth6 June 1939
CountryUnited States of America
Marian Wright Edelman quotes about
greatness greed action
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.
cheating children lying
What's wrong with our children? Adults telling children to be honest while lying and cheating. Adults telling children to not be violent while marketing and glorifying violence... I believe that adult hypocrisy is the biggest problem children face in America.
success perseverance commitment
You're not obligated to win. You're obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.
famous-inspirational life-is
Service is what life is all about.
children drinking white
I've always hated being hemmed in or seeing anybody being hemmed in. Even when I was the smallest child, I couldn't bear being told I couldn't drink at a so-called white drinking fountain.
graduation kindness children
Being considerate of others will take your children further in life than any college degree.
helping-others pay volunteerism
Service is the rent we pay for living.
waiting magic vote
I'd like to transform the system in very fundamental ways, but you've got to do that in every way that you can. You can't wait for some magic bullet or some magic politician or some magic anything to have that happen. You got to get out there and use your vote.
law germany principles
Never let us confuse what is legal with what is right. Everything Hitler did in Nazi Germany was legal, but it was not right.
growing-up kids parent
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.
parent choices kind
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.
earth add bigger
Be a good ancestor. Stand for something bigger than yourself. Add value to the Earth during your sojourn.
children promise mankind
It is [children] who are God's presence, promise and hope for mankind.
justice leader movement
We must always refill and ensure there is a critical mass of leaders and activists committed to nonviolence and racial and economic justice who will keep seeding and building transforming movements.