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 (b. 1939), founder and long-time president of the Children’s Defense Fund, has frequently argued that children’s welfare is a shared civic responsibility rather than a private family matter. This line reflects her broader advocacy from the late 20th century onward for policies addressing child poverty, education, health care, and racial inequity. Edelman often framed children’s issues in moral and intergenerational terms—linking the fate of “our” children to how society treats children outside one’s immediate community. The quote is commonly circulated in speeches and educational/advocacy materials associated with her public work.

The statement insists that a society’s long-term well-being is inseparable from its commitment to justice for all children, not only those within one’s own family or group. “Hold in trust” casts the future as a stewardship obligation: adults inherit institutions and resources and must pass them on responsibly. Edelman’s key claim is that fairness is not merely altruistic; it is formative. When children are denied safety, education, or opportunity, the resulting social costs—instability, inequality, diminished civic life—shape everyone’s future, including that of the privileged. The quote thus reframes compassion as enlightened self-interest grounded in moral duty.