Helen Keller (1880-1968) was an extraordinary American author, lecturer, and advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. Despite being both deaf and blind from a young age, Keller overcame tremendous challenges and became a prominent figure in the fields of education and social activism.
Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, USA. At the age of 19 months, she contracted an illness, possibly scarlet fever or meningitis, which left her completely deaf and blind. Helen’s parents, Arthur H. Keller and Kate Adams Keller, desperately sought a way to communicate with their daughter, and eventually found hope in the form of a young teacher, Anne Sullivan.
Anne Sullivan became Helen’s dedicated teacher and companion, employing a groundbreaking method of tactile sign language to help her understand and communicate. Through Sullivan’s tireless efforts, Keller learned to associate words with objects by feeling the motions of signing on her hand. This breakthrough opened up an entire world of learning and communication for Helen.
Keller’s intellectual curiosity and determination led her to pursue education further. She attended the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts, where she developed exceptional skills in reading, writing, and Braille. In 1904, she graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College, becoming the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Helen Keller’s achievements extended beyond her personal triumphs. She became a passionate advocate for people with disabilities, promoting their rights and striving for equal opportunities. Keller traveled extensively, delivering inspiring lectures and speeches, both in the United States and abroad. Her compelling words and experiences shed light on the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities and fostered a greater understanding and acceptance within society.
Keller’s impact reached far and wide. She authored several books, including her autobiography, “The Story of My Life,” which chronicles her remarkable journey from darkness to illumination. Her other works include “The World I Live In” and “Out of the Dark.” Keller’s writings conveyed her deep appreciation for nature, her belief in the human spirit, and her unwavering commitment to social justice.
Throughout her life, Helen Keller received numerous honors and accolades for her remarkable achievements. She was a member of the American Foundation for the Blind, and her tireless efforts contributed to advancements in education and accessibility for individuals with disabilities.
Helen Keller’s indomitable spirit and resilience continue to inspire countless individuals around the world. Her extraordinary life is a testament to the power of determination, education, and advocacy, reminding us all that no obstacle is insurmountable with the right support and unwavering perseverance.
1. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”
2. “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
3. “Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.”
4. “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”
5. “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.”
6. “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”
7. “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”
8. “I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.”
9. “What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”
10. “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”
11. “The highest result of education is tolerance.”
12. “Never bend your head. Hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.”
13. “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.”
14. “Ideas without action are useless.”
15. “Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”
16. “True friends never apart maybe in distance but never in heart.”
17. “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.”
18. “Life is short and unpredictable. Eat the dessert first!”
19. “We can do anything we want as long as we stick to it long enough.”
20. “We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.”
21. “No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.”
22. “The place between your comfort zone and your dream is where life takes place.”
23. “A well-educated mind will always have more questions than answers.”
24. “The struggle of life is one of our greatest blessings. It makes us patient, sensitive, and Godlike. It teaches us that although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”
25. “Happiness does not come from without, it comes from within.”
26. “Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.”
27. “There is beauty in everything, even in silence and darkness.”
28. “What I am looking for is not out there, it is in me.”
29. “Life is a succesion of lessons which must be lived to be understood.”
30. “Blindness separates us from things but deafness separates us from people.”
31. “I believe there are angels among us, sent down to us from somewhere up above. They come to you and me in our darkest hours, to show us how to live, to teach us how to give, to guide us with a light of love.”
32. “Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.”
33. “A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.”
34. “Happiness is a state of mind, and depends very little on outward circumstances.”
35. “I can not do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something that I can do.”
36. “You will succeed if you persevere; and you will find joy in overcoming obstacles.”
37. “The best things in life are unseen, thats why we close our eyes when we kiss, cry, and dream.”
38. “My friends have made the story of my life.”
39. “We should respect all people.”
40. “All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming.”
41. “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.”
42. “Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.”
43. “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.”
44. “Everybody talks, nobody listens. Good listeners are as rare as white crows.”
45. “A good education is a stepping-stone to wealth.”
46. “So long as you can sweeten another’s pain, life is not in vain.”
47. “Better to be blind and see with your heart, than to have two good eyes and see nothing.”
48. “Your success and happiness lie in you.”
49. “Making a mistake is falling down; failure is not getting up again.”
50. “Oh, you think the darkness is your ally, but you merely adopted the dark. I was born in it. Molded by it.”
51. “People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant.”
52. “Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all – the apathy of human beings.”
53. “So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.”
54. “There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark.”
55. “Knowledge is love and light and vision.”
56. “My friends have made the story of my life. In a thousand ways they have turned my limitations into beautiful privileges.”
57. “When you lose your vision, you lose contact with things. When you lose your hearing, you lose contact with people.”
58. “Fear: the best way out is through.”
59. “Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived.”
60. “Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another’s pain, life is not in vain.”
61. “It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision.”
62. “Doubts and mistrust are the mere panic of timid imagination, which the steadfast heart will conquer, and the large mind transcend.”
63. “The highest result of education is tolerance. Long ago men fought and died for their faith; but it took ages to teach them the other kind of courage, – the courage to recognize the faiths of their brethren and their rights of conscience.”
64. “One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.”
65. “To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug.”
66. “Silver is purified in fire and so are we. It is in the most trying times that our real character is shaped and revealed.”
67. “I believe that God is in me as the sun is in the colour and fragrance of a flower – the Light in my darkness, the Voice in my silence.”
68. “So much has been given to me I have not time to ponder over that which has been denied.”
69. “What really counts in life is the quiet meeting of every difficulty with the determination to get out of it all the good there is.”
70. “Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other’s welfare, social justice can never be attained.”
71. “Literature is my Utopia.”
72. “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.”
73. “Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.”
74. “Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.”
75. “The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision.”
76. “I have made my limitations tools of learning and true joy.”
77. “I do not want the peace which passeth understanding, I want the understanding which bringeth peace.”
78. “Happiness is like the mountain summit. It is sometimes hidden by clouds, but we know it is there.”
79. “While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done, it was done.”
80. “True teaching cannot be learned from text-books any more than a surgeon can acquire his skill by reading about surgery.”
81. “The true test of a character is to face hard conditions with the determination to make them better.”
82. “Be happy, talk happiness. Happiness calls out responsive gladness in others. There is enough sadness in the world without yours.”
83. “The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.”
84. “If I am happy in spite of my deprivations, if my happiness is so deep that it is a faith, so thoughtful that it becomes a philosophy of life. If, in short, I am an optimist, my testimony to the creed of optimism is worth hearing.”
85. “I thank God for my handicaps. For through them, I have found myself, my work and my God.”
86. “Knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge – broad, deep knowledge – is to know true ends from false, and lofty things from low.”
87. “We are never really happy until we try to brighten the lives of others.”
88. “To keep on trying in spite of disappointment and failure is the only way to keep young and brave. Failures become victories if they make us wise-hearted.”
89. “Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them; but do not let them master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight.”
90. “Tolerance is the first principle of community; it is the spirit which conserves the best that all men think.”
91. “I am only one but still i am one.”
92. “Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves.”
93. “One should never count the years – one should instead count one’s interests. I have kept young trying never to lose my childhood sense of wonderment. I’m glad I still have a vivid curiosity about the world I live in.”
94. “A smile goes a long way, but you must first start it on its journey.”
95. “The simplest way to be happy is to do good.”
96. “If it is true that the violin is the most perfect of musical instruments, then Greek is the violin of human thought.”
97. “What do I consider a teacher should be? One who breathes life into knowledge so that it takes new form in progress and civilization.”
98. “Every one of us is blind and deaf until our eyes are opened to our fellowmen, until our ears hear the voice of humanity.”
99. “Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.”
100. “The test of a democracy is not the magnificence of buildings or the speed of automobiles or the efficiency of air transportation, but rather the care given to the welfare of all the people.”