Helen Keller Quotes



Helen Keller, was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deaf blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.

When Helen was 19 months old, she became extremely ill and lost both her vision and hearing.

At age 7, her parents hired a teacher named Anne Sullivan.

Miss Sullivan herself had been blind, but had an operation and regained her sight -- so she understood exactly what Helen was feeling.


Anne Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing Helen to blossom as she learned to communicate.

She taught Helen the signs for the letters of the alphabet. Then she would "spell" the words in Helen's hand to communicate with her.

Helen Keller learned to speak when she was ten by feeling her teacher's mouth when she talked.

In her own words --

"Once I knew only darkness and stillness... my life was without past or future... but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living."




Helen Keller Quotes

******************

Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow.

You have set yourself a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles.

******************

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.

******************

Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world

******************

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.

******************

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.


*****************

No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.

*****************

Many people know so little about what is beyond their short range of experience.

They look within themselves - and find nothing! Therefore they conclude that there is nothing outside themselves either.

*****************

Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.

*****************

Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.

*****************

Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.

*****************

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.


********************

Believe. No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.

********************

I seldom think about my limitations, and they never make me sad. Perhaps there is just a touch of yearning at times; but it is vague, like a breeze among flowers.

********************

We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough.

********************

While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done, it was done.

********************

When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.

********************

The marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome.

The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse.

********************

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

********************


**********************

It is for us to pray not for tasks equal to our powers, but for powers equal to our tasks, to go forward with a great desire forever beating at the door of our hearts as we travel toward our distant goal.

**********************

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it.

Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.

**********************

The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.

**********************

What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.

**********************

What I am looking for is not out there, it is in me.

*****************

The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision.

**********************



"The chief handicap of the blind is not blindness, but the attitude of seeing people towards them."

quote by Helen Keller

Want to help? --visit

Helen Keller Services For The Blind

Royal National Institute of Blind People  


Return to Home Page