The legacies that parents and church and teachers left to my generation of Black children were priceless but not material: a living faith reflected in daily service, the discipline of hard work and stick-to-itiveness, and a capacity to struggle in the face of adversity.

— Marian Wright Edelman

Marian Wright Edelman Quotes

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

— Marian Wright Edelman

Far less wealthy industrialized countries have committed to end child poverty, while the United States is sliding backwards. We can do better. We must demand that our leaders do better.

— Marian Wright Edelman

Democracy cannot breathe, indeed will die, if those enjoined to protect it and uphold the laws snuff it out – with no consequences.

— Marian Wright Edelman

The crisis of children having children has been eclipsed by the greater crisis of children killing children.

— Marian Wright Edelman

Family and moral values are so central to everything that I am.

— Marian Wright Edelman

As I contemplate the kind of future I want for children-my own and other people’s-I believe we must look inward to God for guidance and strength and backward to draw on the values and legacies of our families, ancestors, and communities.

— Marian Wright Edelman

Children cannot lobby and cannot vote. We must speak for them.

— Marian Wright Edelman

Together we can and must fight for justice for our children and protect them from draconian tax cuts and budget choices that threaten their survival, education and preparation for the future. If they are not ready for tomorrow, neither is America.

— 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.

— Marian Wright Edelman

Strong

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.

— Marian Wright Edelman

I worry about the kids who have too much. As a parent living in a so-called good neighborhood with children who went to private high school, I found myself spending much time in parent groups worrying about alcohol, unsupervised parties, and parents not being parents.

— Marian Wright Edelman

No one, Eleanor Roosevelt said, can make you feel inferior without your consent. Never give it.

— Marian Wright Edelman

Justice is not cheap. Justice is not quick. It is not ever finally achieved.

— Marian Wright Edelman

It never occurred to me that I was not going to challenge segregation.

— Marian Wright Edelman

I never thought I was breaking a glass ceiling. I just had to do what I had to do, and it never occurred to me not to.

— Marian Wright Edelman

I hadn’t planned on going to law school. I wanted to study 19th-century Russian literature.

— Marian Wright Edelman

I’m sure I am impatient sometimes. I sure do get angry sometimes. I think it’s outrageous how hard it is to get this country to feed its children and to take care of its children, to give them a decent education.

— Marian Wright Edelman

I’m doing what I think I was put on this earth to do. And I’m really grateful to have something that I’m passionate about and that I think is profoundly important.

— Marian Wright Edelman

You’d better stay determined, because that’s how our ancestors got us where we are.

— Marian Wright Edelman

In my generation, we learned how to be leaders by being exposed to and involved with adults who empowered us and gave us a sense that we could choose things. We’ve let down the generations coming behind us and we are trying to re- establish that connection.

— Marian Wright Edelman

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