What is the exact source of this quotation from arian Wright Edelman:
?Service is the rent each of us pays for living?the very purpose of
life??

Hello marah,

Thank you for your question.

You'll find that this is from her book "The Measure of Our Success: A
Letter to My Children and Yours". Barnes and Noble actually has an
excerpt from Part One: A Family Legacy including this quote on their
page for this book:
http://btobsearch.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?sourceid=00395996645644787198&btob=Y&ean=9780060975463&pwb=1&displayonly=EXC


"...The adults in our churches and community made children feel valued
and important. They took time and paid attention to us. They struggled
to find ways to keep us busy. And while life was often hard and
resources scarce, we always knew who we were and that the measure of
our worth was inside our heads and hearts and not outside in our
possessions or on our backs. We were told that the world had a lot of
problems; that Black people had an extra lot of problems, but that we
were able and obligated to struggle and change them; that being poor
was no excuse for not achieving; and that extra intellectual and
material gifts brought with them the privilege and responsibility of
sharing with others less fortunate. In sum, we learned that service is
the rent we pay for living. It is the very purpose of life and not
something you do in your spare time."

It appears this was first published in 1992:

The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children & Yours
By Marian Wright Edelman 
Hardcover  /  Beacon Press  /  01 May, 1992  /  080703102X


Search Strategy:

edelman "service is the rent"


I trust my research has provided you with the answer you desired. If a
link above should fail to work or anything require further explanation
or research, please do post a Request for Clarification prior to
rating the answer and closing the question and I will be pleased to
assist further.

Regards,

-=clouseau=-

---

Request for Answer Clarification by marah-ga on 18 Jan 2004 14:59 PST

did i ask you for the  page number? i cant recall. if you kindly would
please, that would help me a whole lot! thanks

---

Clarification of Answer by clouseau-ga on 18 Jan 2004 15:51 PST

Hello again marah,

You did not ask, but if you note the page at Barnes and Noble, it is
on the first page of Part One. Amazon has caced a few pages including
the contents of the paperback edition and this page shows the
following:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0785717854/ref=sib_dp_rdr/103-4137832-8019052#reader-page

The Forward begins on Page IX and Part One begins on Page 1. The
samples they show stop at Page 3, which is where the text of Part One
begins.  The quote should appear on the following page (page 4) or
page 5 at the very latest depending on the actual size of the type and
page sizing in this edition.

I hope this has been helpful.

Regards, 

-=clouseau=-

It's worth noting that Mohammed Ali is credited with saying:
"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth."

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aliquotes1.html credits him saying this
in 1978 with a source of Time magazine.