I wasn't thinking about history. I was thinking about how we were going to end segregation at lunch counters in Atlanta, Georgia.We would have never thought about making history, we just thought: Here is our chance to get out our sense of rejection at this kind of racial discrimination. I don't know that there was a time that anybody growing up in the South wasn't enraged about being segregated and being discriminated against.

Marian Wright Edelman

Categorized in : Thinking Atlanta Growing Up

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

Marian Wright Edelman

learning community education

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 believe children

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

Marian Wright Edelman

black-history children

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

women inspirational peace

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

african-american dog justice

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

tall doe children

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

motivational inspirational life

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

light struggle children

If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much.

Marian Wright Edelman

ifs children

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

Marian Wright Edelman

bigger earth add

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

greed greatness compassion

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

Marian Wright Edelman

real trying mean

We do not have a money problem in America. We have a values and priorities problem.

Marian Wright Edelman

money peace america

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

luxury issues children

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

social-justice children people

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

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

germany principles law

Dr. King used to say, 'I was sitting in the back of the bus, but my mind was always up front.' Don't let anybody tell you that you can't do it. You aim high and you work very hard and now I think it's clear that you can be anything you want to.

Marian Wright Edelman

kings inspirational thinking

It is the responsibility of every adult... to make sure that children hear what we have learned from the lessons of life and to hear over and over that we love them and that they are not alone.

Marian Wright Edelman

life-lesson education children

I was taught that the world had a lot of problems; that I could struggle and change them; that intellectual and material gifts brought the privilege and responsibility of sharing with others less fortunate; and that service is the rent each of us pays for living - the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time or after you have reached your personal goals.

Marian Wright Edelman

volunteer responsibility struggle