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.
Marian Wright EdelmanRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The future of children is shaped by spiritual guidance and the values passed down from our families and communities.
In this quote, Marian Wright Edelman emphasizes the importance of looking both inward and backward when envisioning a positive future for children. It suggests that spiritual reflection and connecting with the traditions and legacies of our families and communities are essential for guiding our actions and decisions regarding future generations.
Themes
FutureChildrenValuesGuidanceCommunity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can inspire discussions about parenting in a community meeting.
More from Marian Wright Edelman
All quotes →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 EdelmanRead
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 EdelmanRead
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.
Marian Wright EdelmanRead
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 EdelmanRead
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.
Marian Wright EdelmanRead
Similar quotes
I shall never forget my mother, for it was she who planted and nurtured the first seeds of good within me. She opened my heart to the lasting impressions of nature; she awakened my understanding and extended my horizon and her percepts exerted an everlasting influence upon the course of my life.
Immanuel KantRead
My parents taught me service - not by saying, but by doing. That was my culture, the culture of my family.
Alice WalkerRead
I remember staring at my son endlessly when he was an infant, stunned by his very existence, wondering where on earth he had come from.
Anne LamottRead
My mother has the same kind of an arm, even today at 74. She could throw a ball from second base to home plate with something on it. I got my arm from my mother.
Roberto ClementeRead
I come from a family where the only emotion respectable to show is irritation. In some this tendency produces hives, in others literature, in me both.
Flannery O'ConnorRead
Although my family attended the same church as everyone in our town, our religion was not the same. I could stand with my family or with the gentiles... but there was no foothold in between.
Tara WestoverRead