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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Take responsibility for improving the world by making gradual changes.
Marian Wright Edelman's quote emphasizes the importance of individual responsibility in enacting change in the world. It suggests that even when faced with dissatisfaction regarding the state of the world, one must take proactive steps, albeit small ones, to initiate change, highlighting the moral obligation we have to contribute positively to society.
Themes
ChangeResponsibilityWorldObligationSteps
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech on social responsibility.
More from Marian Wright Edelman
All quotes βFar 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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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Born often under another sky, placed in the middle of an always moving scene, himself driven by the irresistible torrent which draws all about him, the American has no time to tie himself to anything, he grows accustomed only to change, and ends by regarding it as the natural state of man. He feels the need of it, more he loves it; for the instability; instead of meaning disaster to him, seems to give birth only to miracles all about him.
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