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God Doesn't Promise Security From Life's Storms But Security In Life's Storms. God Doesn't Always Call The Equipped, But He Will Always Equip The Called. In The Long Run, Avoiding Danger Is No Safer Than Outright Exposure. The Fearful Are Caught As Often As The Bold.

-Helen Keller

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God Doesn't Promise Security

Helen Keller

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God Doesn't Promise Security From Life's Storms But Security In Life's Storms. God Doesn't Always Call The Equipped, But He Will Always Equip The Called. In The Long Run, Avoiding Danger Is No Safer Than Outright Exposure. The Fearful Are Caught As Often As The Bold.

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Ignorance, Poverty, And Greed Must Disappear So That Light Can Prevail In All Places.

It Is A Mistake Always To Contemplate The Good And Ignore The Evil, Because By Making People Neglectful It Lets In Disaster. There Is A Dangerous Optimism Of Ignorance And Indifference.

I Am Beginning To Suspect All Elaborate And Special Systems Of Education. They Seem To Me To Be Built Up On The Supposition That Every Child Is A Kind Of Idiot Who Must Be Taught To Think. Whereas, If The Child Is Left To Himself, He Will Think More And Better, If Less Showily.

The Fearful Are Caught As Often As The Bold.

I Do Not Like The World As It Is; So I Am Trying To Make It A Little More As I Want It.

What If In My Waking Hours A Sound Should Ring Through The Silent Halls Of Hearing? ... Would The Bow And String Tension Of Life Snap? Would The Heart Over Weighted With Sudden Joy Stop Beating For Very Excess Of Happiness?

So Much Has Been Given Me I Have No Time To Ponder Over That Which Has Been Denied.

Famous Inspirational

Our Democracy Is But A Name. We Vote? What Does That Mean? It Means That We Choose Between Two Bodies Of Real, Though Not Avowed, Autocrats. We Choose Between Tweedledum And Tweedledee.

The Clatter Of A Changing World Is Not Pleasant, And Those Who Have Enjoyed The Comforts And Protection Of The Old Order May Be Shocked And Unhappy When They Behold The Vigorous Young Builders Of A New World Sweeping Away Their Time-honored Antiquities.

A Child Must Feel The Flush Of Victory And The Heart-sinking Of Disappointment Before He Takes With A Will To The Tasks Distasteful To Him And Resolves To Dance His Way Through A Dull Routine Of Textbooks.

No Matter How Dull, Or How Mean, Or How Wise A Man Is, He Feels That Happiness Is His Indisputable Right.

Change May Be The Vitalizing Wind Blowing Through The House Of Life, But It Is Not An Abiding Force. We Need Permanent Things To Soak Peace Into Us As Well As Progress - The Beauty Of The Earth, Seedtime And Harvest, The Smiles Of Lovers, The Joy Of The Young In Being Alive, Pride In Craftsmanship. Why, Oh Why Must We Let Ourselves Forget These Lasting Treasures In An Age Of Consuming Ambition, Speed Madness And Accumulated Goods That Leave Us No Chance To Live? If We Cannot Be Contented With A Little No Wealth Will Ever Satisfy Us.

Be Of Good Cheer. Do Not Think Of Today's Failures, But Of The Success That May Come Tomorrow. You Have Set Yourselves A Difficult Task, But You Will Succeed If You Persevere, And You Will Find A Joy In Overcoming Obstacles... Remember, No Effort That We Make To Attain Something Beautiful Is Ever Lost.

Long Before I Learned To Do A Sum In Arithmetic Or Describe The Shape Of The Earth, Miss Sullivan Had Taught Me To Find Beauty In The Fragrant Woods, In Every Blade Of Grass, And In The Curves And Dimples Of My Baby Sister's Hand.

A Well-educated Mind Will Always Have More Questions Than Answers.

I Look Upon The Whole World As My Fatherland, And Every War Has To Me The Horror Of A Family Feud.

Hope Sees The Invisible, Feels The Intangible, And Achieves The Impossible.

Happiness Rarely Keeps Company With An Empty Stomach

There Is Joy In Self-forgetfulness. So I Try To Make The Light In Others' Eyes My Sun, The Music In Others' Ears My Symphony, The Smile On Others' Lips My Happiness.

Making A Mistake Is Falling Down; Failure Is Not Getting Up Again.

Making Mistakes

You Will Succeed If You Persevere; And You Will Find Joy In Overcoming Obstacles.

When All You Can Feel Are The Shadows, Turn Your Face Towards The Sun.

Ideas Without Action Are Useless.

The Highest Thinkers Of The Ages, The Seers Of The Tribes And The Nations, Have Been Optimists.

When We Complain Of Having To Do The Same Thing Over And Over, Let Us Remember That God Does Not Send New Trees, Strange Flowers And Different Grasses Every Year. When The Spring Winds Blow, They Blow In The Same Way. In The Same Places The Same Dear Blossoms Lift Up The Same Sweet Faces, Yet They Never Weary Us. When It Rains, It Rains As It Always Has. Even So Would The Same Tasks Which Fill Our Daily Lives Put On New Meanings If We Wrought Them In The Spirit Of Renewal From Within--a Spirit Of Growth And Beauty.

Strike Against War, For Without You No Battles Can Be Fought. Strike Against Manufacturing Shrapnel And Gas Bombs And All Other Tools Of Murder. Strike Against Preparedness That Means Death And Misery To Millions Of Human Beings. Be Not Dumb, Obedient Slaves In An Army Of Destruction. Be Heroes In An Army Of Construction.

Our Democracy Is But A Name. We Vote? What Does That Mean? It Means That We Choose Between Two Bodies Of Real, Though Not Avowed, Autocrats. We Choose Between Tweedledum And Tweedledee.… You Ask For Votes For Women. What Good Can Votes Do When Ten-elevenths Of The Land Of Great Britain Belongs To 200,000 And Only One-eleventh To The Rest Of The 40,000,000? Have Your Men With Their Millions Of Votes Freed Themselves From This Injustice?

The Simplest Way To Be Happy Is To Do Good.

You Make Me Happy

The Greatest Tragedy In Life Is People Who Have Sight But No Vision.

We Can Decide To Let Our Trials Crush Us, Or We Can Convert Them To New Forces Of Good.

If It Is True That The Violin Is The Most Perfect Of Musical Instruments, Then Greek Is The Violin Of Human Thought.

The Few Who Profit From The Labor Of The Masses Want To Organize The Workers Into An Army Which Will Protect The Interests Of The Capitalists.

The Only Thing Worse Than Being Blind Is Having Sight But No Vision.

Life Is Either A Great Adventure Or Nothing.

I Am Thankful That In A Troubled World No Calamity Can Prevent The Return Of Spring.

Let Pessimism Once Take Hold Of The Mind, And Life Is All Topsy-turvy, All Vanity And Vexation Of Spirit. There Is No Cure For Individual Or Social Disorder, Except In Forgetfulness And Annihilation.

Our Beloved Ones Have Not 'gone To A Far Country.' It Is Only The Veil Of Sense That Separates Them From Us, And Even That Veil Grows Thin When Our Thoughts Reach Out To Them.

The Power Of Effecting Changes For The Better Is Within Ourselves, Not In The Favorableness Of Circumstances.

Change For The Better

Be Heroes In An Army Of Construction.

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.

There Is Plenty Of Courage Among Us For The Abstract, But Not For The Concrete.

A Person Who Is Severely Impaired Never Knows His Hidden Sources Of Strength Until He Is Treated Like A Normal Human Being And Encouraged To Shape His Own Life.

Touch Each Object As If Tomorrow You Would Never Be Able To Feel Anything Again.

When You Lose Your Vision, You Lose Contact With Things. When You Lose Your Hearing, You Lose Contact With People.

As The Eagle Was Killed By The Arrow Winged With His Own Feather, So The Hand Of The World Is Wounded By Its Own Skill.

Four Things To Learn In Life: To Think Clearly Without Hurry Or Confusion; To Love Everybody Sincerely; To Act In Everything With The Highest Motives; To Trust God Unhesitatingly.

I Feel The Delightful, Velvety Texture Of A Flower, And Discover Its Remarkable Convolutions; And Something Of The Miracle Of Nature Is Revealed To Me.

It's Wonderful To Climb The Liquid Mountains Of The Sky. Behind Me And Before Me Is God And I Have No Fears.

Face Your Deficiencies And Acknowledge Them; But Do Not Let Them Master You. Let Them Teach You Patience, Sweetness, Insight. True Education Combines Intellect, Beauty, Goodness, And The Greatest Of These Is Goodness. When We Do The Best That We Can, We Never Know What Miracle Is Wrought In Our Life, Or In The Life Of Another.

When All You Can Feel Are The Shadows, Turn Your Face Towards The Sun. There Is Always A Bright Side - Even If Only That It Is Not Worse...and It Can Always Be Worse

If We Believe That The Sun And Moon Hang In The Sky For Our Delight, There Will Be Joy Upon The Hills And Gladness In The Fields.

My Darkness Has Been Filled With The Light Of Intelligence, And Behold, The Outer Day-lit World Was Stumbling And Groping In Social Blindness.

It Is Hard To Interest Those Who Have Everything In Those Who Have Nothing.

A Happy Life Consists Not In The Absence, But In The Mastery Of Hardships.

They Took Away What Should Have Been My Eyes (but I Remembered Milton's Paradise). They Took Away What Should Have Been My Ears, (beethoven Came And Wiped Away My Tears) They Took Away What Should Have Been My Tongue, (but I Had Talked With God When I Was Young) He Would Not Let Them Take Away My Soul, Possessing That I Still Possess The Whole.

I Had Once Believed That We Were All Masters Of Our Fate--that We Could Mold Our Lives Into Any Form We Pleased... I Had Overcome Deafness And Blindness Sufficiently To Be Happy, And I Supposed That Anyone Could Come Out Victorious If He Threw Himself Valiantly Into Life's Struggle. But As I Went More And More About The Country I Learned That I Had Spoken With Assurance On A Subject I Knew Little About... I Learned That The Power To Rise In The World Is Not Within The Reach Of Everyone.

Smell Is A Potent Wizard That Transports You Across Thousands Of Miles And All The Years You Have Lived.

I Don't Want To Live In A Hand -me -down World Of Others' Experiences. I Want To Write About Me, My Discoveries, My Fears, My Feelings, About Me.

Observers In The Full Enjoyment Of Their Bodily Senses Pity Me, But It Is Because They Do Not See The Golden Chamber In My Life Where I Dwell Delighted; For, Dark As My Path May Seem To Them, I Carry A Magic Light In My Heart. Faith, The Spiritual Strong Searchlight, Illumines The Way, And Although Sinister Doubts Lurk In The Shadow, I Walk Unafraid Towards The Enchanted Wood Where The Foliage Is Always Green, Where Joy Abides, Where Nightingales Nest And Sing, And Where Life And Death Are One In The Presence Of The Lord.

We Bereaved Are Not Alone. We Belong To The Largest Company In All The World--the Company Of Those Who Have Known Suffering.

Losing A Loved One

That The Sky Is Brighter Than The Earth Means Little Unless The Earth Itself Is Appreciated And Enjoyed. Its Beauty Loved Gives The Right To Aspire To The Radiance Of The Sunrise And Sunset.

Instead Of Comparing Our Lot With That Of Those Who Are More Fortunate Than We Are, We Should Compare It With The Lot Of The Great Majority Of Our Fellow Men. It Then Appears That We Are Among The Privileged.

I, For One, Love Strength, Daring, Fortitude. I Do Not Want People To Kill The Fight In Them; I Want Them To Fight For Right Things.

No Pessimist Ever Discovered The Secret Of The Stars, Or Sailed To An Uncharted Land, Or Opened A New Doorway For The Human Spirit.

Few Pleasures There Are Indeed Without An Aftertouch Of Pain, But That Is The Preservation Which Keeps Them Sweet.

Smell Is A Potent Wizard That Transports You Across Thousands Of Miles And All The Years You Have Lived. The Odors Of Fruits Waft Me To My Southern Home, To My Childhood Frolics In The Peach Orchard. Other Odors, Instantaneous And Fleeting, Cause My Heart To Dilate Joyously Or Contract With Remembered Grief. Even As I Think Of Smells, My Nose Is Full Of Scents That Start Awake Sweet Memories Of Summers Gone And Ripening Fields Far Away.

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.

A Smile Goes A Long Way, But You Must First Start It On Its Journey.

I Have Made My Limitations Tools Of Learning And True Joy.

My Friends Have Made The Story Of My Life.

Health In All Lands Is Among The Indispensable Guarantees Of Human Progress.

A Man Can't Make A Place For Himself In The Sun If He Keeps Taking Refuge Under The Family Tree.

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.

Life Is Short And Unpredictable. Eat The Dessert First!

Inspirational Life

We Should Respect All People.

Your Success And Happiness Lie In You. External Conditions Are The Accidents Of Life, Its Outer Trappings.

Life Is A Daring Adventure Or Nothing.

Hold Out Your Hands To Feel The Luxury Of The Sunbeams.

Faith Is A Mockery If It Does Not Teach Us That We Can Build A More Complete And Beautiful World.

For, After All, Every One Who Wishes To Gain True Knowledge Must Climb The Hill Difficulty Alone, And Since There Is No Royal Road To The Summit, I Must Zigzag It In My Own Way. I Slip Back Many Times, I Fall, I Stand Still, I Run Against The Edge Of Hidden Obstacles, I Lose My Temper And Find It Again And Keep It Better, I Trudge On, I Gain A Little, I Feel Encouraged, I Get More Eager And Climb Higher And Begin To See The Widening Horizon. Every Struggle Is A Victory. One More Effort And I Reach The Luminous Cloud, The Blue Depths Of The Sky, The Uplands Of My Desire.

The Million Little Things That Drop Into Your Hands, The Small Opportunities Each Day Brings, He Leaves Us Free To Use Or Abuse, And Goes Unchanging Along His Silent Way

When Indeed Shall We Learn That We Are All Related One To The Other, That We Are All Members Of One Body? Until The Spirit Of Love For Our Fellow People, Regardless Of Race, Color, Or Creed, Shall Fill The World, Making Real In Our Lives And Our Deeds The Actuality Of Human Brother- And Sisterhood, 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.

When One Door Of Hapiness Closes, Another Opens.

Be Not Dumb, Obedient Slaves In An Army Of Destruction. Be Heroes In An Army Of Construction.

One's Life Story Cannot Be Told With Complete Veracity. A True Autobiography Would Have To Be Written In States Of Mind, Emotions, Heartbeats, Smiles And Tears; Not In Months And Years, Or Physical Events. Life Is Marked Off On The Soul By Feelings, Not By Dates.

I Am Just As Deaf As I Am Blind. The Problems Of Deafness Are Deeper And More Complex, If Not More Important Than Those Of Blindness. Deafness Is A Much Worse Misfortune. For It Means The Loss Of The Most Vital Stimulus- The Sound Of The Voice That Brings Language, Sets Thoughts Astir, And Keeps Us In The Intellectual Company Of Man.

I Have Visited Sweatshops, Factories, And Crowded Slums. If I Could Not See It, I Could Smell It. The Foundation Of Society Is Laid Upon A Basis Of . . . Individualism, Conquest And Exploitation . . . A Social Order Such As This, Built Upon Such Wrong And Basic Principles, Is Bound To Retard The Development Of All. The Output Of A Cotton Mill Or A Coal Mine Is Considered Of Greater Importance Than The Production Of Healthy, Happy-hearted And Free Human Beings. We, The People, Are Not Free. Our Democracy Is But A Name.

When We Do The Best That We Can, We Never Know What Miracle Is Wrought In Our Life, Or In The Life Of Another.

I Fall, I Stand Still... I Trudge On. I Gain A Little... I Get More Eager And Climb Higher And Begin To See The Widening Horizon. Every Struggle Is A Victory.

When One Doors Closes, Another Door Opens.

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.

I Learned That It Is Possible For Us To Create Light, Sound And Order Within Us No Matter What Calamity Befall Us In The Outer World.

Now I Feel As If I Should Succeed In Doing Something In Mathematics, Although I Cannot See Why It Is So Very Important. . . The Knowledge Doesn't Make Life Any Sweeter Or Happier, Does It?

There Will Never Be Another Now - I'll Make The Most Of Today. There Will Never Be Another Me - I'll Make The Most Of Myself.

Serious Harm, I Am Afraid, Has Been Wrought To Our Generation By Fostering The Idea That They Would Live Secure In A Permanent Order Of Things.

We Are Never Really Happy Until We Try To Brighten The Lives Of Others.

Lives Of Others

With Every Friend I Love Who Has Been Taken Into The Brown Bosom Of The Earth A Part Of Me Has Been Buried There; But Their Contribution To My Being Of Happiness, Strength And Understanding Remains To Sustain Me In An Altered World.

Oh, You Think The Darkness Is Your Ally, But You Merely Adopted The Dark. I Was Born In It. Molded By It.

The World Is Sown With Good; But Unless I Turn My Glad Thoughts Into Practical Living And Till My Own Field. I Cannot Reap A Kernel Of The Good.

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.

Even If You Have A Problem, You Don't Need To Be One.

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.

I Regard Philanthropy As A Tragic Apology For Wrong Conditions Under Which Human Beings Live.

Worse Than Being Blind Would Be To Be Able To See But Not Have Any Vision.

The Few Own The Many Because They Possess The Means Of Livelihood Of All ... The Country Is Governed For The Richest, For The Corporations, The Bankers, The Land Speculators, And For The Exploiters Of Labor. The Majority Of Mankind Are Working People. So Long As Their Fair Demands - The Ownership And Control Of Their Livelihoods - Are Set At Naught, We Can Have Neither Men's Rights Nor Women's Rights. The Majority Of Mankind Is Ground Down By Industrial Oppression In Order That The Small Remnant May Live In Ease.

Every Optimist Moves Along With Progress And Hastens It, While Every Pessimist Would Keep The Worlds At A Standstill. The Consequence Of Pessimism In The Life Of A Nation Is The Same As In The Life Of The Individual. Pessimism Kills The Instinct That Urges Men To Struggle Against Poverty, Ignorance And Crime, And Dries Up All The Fountains Of Joy In The World.

When One Door Of Happiness Closes, Another Opens; But Often We Look So Long In Disappointment And Bitterness At The Closed Door That We Do Not Expectantly Look For And Therefore See With Pleasure And Gratitude The One Which Has Been Opened For Us.

He Who Is Content With What Has Been Done Is An Obstacle In The Path Of Progress.

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.

I Grow More And More Suspicious Of The Political Powers That Take Men Away From Their Work And Set Them Shooting One Another.

Character Cannot Be Developed In Ease And Quiet.

Use Your Eyes As If Tomorrow You Would Be Stricken Blind. Hear The Music Of Voices, The Song Of Birds, The Mighty Strains Of An Orchestra As If You Would Be Stricken Deaf Tomorrow . . . Smell The Perfume Of Flowers, Taste With Relish Each Morsel As If Tomorrow You Could Never Smell And Taste Again. Glory In All The Facts Of Pleasure And Beauty Which The World Reveals To You.

Sick Or Well, Blind Or Seeing, Bond Or Free, We Are Here For A Purpose And However We Are Situated, We Please God Better With Useful Deeds Than With Many Prayers Or Pious Resignation. The Temple Or Church Is Empty Unless The Good Of Life Fills It . . . Holy If Only . . . We Offer The Only Sacrifices Ever Commanded-the Love That Is Stronger Than Hate And The Faith That Overcometh Doubt.

Knowledge Is Love And Light And Vision.

Face Your Deficiencies And Acknowledge Them; But Do Not Let Them Master You. Let Them Teach You Patience, Sweetness, Insight.

If I, Deaf, Blind, Find Life Rich And Interesting, How Much More Can You Gain By The Use Of Your Five Senses!

The Wise Fools Who Sit In The High Places Of Justice Fail To See That In Revolutionary Times Vital Issues Are Settled Not By Statutes, Decrees And Authorities, But In Spite If Them.

It Has Been Said That Life Has Treated Me Harshly; And Sometimes I Have Complained In My Heart Because Many Pleasures Of Human Experience Have Been Withheld From Me...if Much Has Been Denied Me, Much, Very Much, Has Been Given Me.

Museums And Art Stores Are Also Sources Of Pleasure And Inspiration. Doubtless It Will Seem Strange To Many That The Hand Unaided By Sight Can Feel Action, Sentiment, Beauty In The Cold Marble; And Yet It Is True That I Derive Genuine Pleasure From Touching Great Works Of Art. As My Finger Tips Trace Line And Curve, They Discover The Thought And Emotion Which The Artist Has Portrayed.

Self-culture Has Been Loudly And Boastfully Proclaimed As Sufficient For All Our Ideals Of Perfection. But If We Listen To The Best Men And Women Everywhere ... They Will Say That 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.

The Best And Most Beautiful Things In The World Cannot Be Seen Or Even Touched - They Must Be Felt With The Heart.

Friends Create The World Anew Each Day. Without Their Loving Care, Courage Would Not Suffice To Keep Heartsstrong For Life.

When Indeed Shall We Learn That We Are All Related One To The Other, That We Are All Members Of One Body?

Strike Against War, For Without You No Battles Can Be Fought.

This Great Republic Is A Mockery Of Freedom As Long As You Are Doomed To Dig And Sweat To Earn A Miserable Living While The Masters Enjoy The Fruit Of Your Toil.

The Things You Do Today That You Don't Have To Do Will Determine Who, What, And Where You Will Be When It Is Too Late To Do Anything About The Things You Should Have Done.

Personally I Do Not Believe In A National Agency Devoted Only To The Negro Blind Because In Spirit And Principle I Am Against All Segregation, And The Blind Already Have Difficulties Enough Without Being Cramped And Harassed By Social Barriers.

What Is The Use Of Such Terrible Diligence As Many Tire Themselves Out With, If They Always Postpone Their Exchange Of Smiles With Beauty And Joy To Cling To Irksome Duties And Relations?

College Isn't The Place To Go For Ideas.

Once It Was Necessary That The People Should Multiply And Be Fruitful If The Race Was To Survive. But Now To Preserve The Race It Is Necessary That People Hold Back The Power Of Propagation.

Next To A Leisurely Walk I Enjoy A Spin On My Tandem Bicycle. It Is Splendid To Feel The Wind Blowing In My Face And The Springy Motion Of My Iron Steed. The Rapid Rush Through The Air Gives Me A Delicious Sense Of Strength And Buoyancy, And The Exercise Makes My Pulse Dance And My Heart Sing.

I Thank God For My Handicaps. For Through Them, I Have Found Myself, My Work And My God.

Knowing Who You Are

Once I Knew The Depth Where No Hope Was And Darkness Lay On The Face Of All Things. Then Love Came And Set My Soul Free. Once I Fretted And Beat Myself Against The Wall That Shut Me In. My Life Was Without A Past Or Future, And Death A Consummation Devoutly To Be Wished. But A Little Word From The Fingers Of Another Fell Into My Hands That Clutched At Emptiness, And My Heart Leaped Up With The Rapture Of Living. I Do Not Know The Meaning Of The Darkness, But I Have Learned The Overcoming Of It.

It Is With A Kind Of Fear That I Begin To Write The History Of My Life.

Story Of My Life

Certainly I Believe That God Gave Us Life For Happiness, Not Misery. Humanity, I Am Sure, Will Never Be Made Lazy Or Indifferent By An Excess Of Happiness. 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. Happiness Should Be A Means Of Accomplishment, Like Health, Not An End In Itself.

The Most Important Day I Remember In All My Life Is The One On Which My Teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, Came To Me. I Am Filled With Wonder When I Consider The Immeasurable Contrasts Between The Two Lives Which It Connects. It Was The Third Of March, 1887, Three Months Before I Was Seven Years Old.

I Will Not Just Live My Life. I Will Not Just Spend My Life. I Will Invest My Life.

I Could Never Stay Long Enough On The Shore; The Tang Of The Untainted, Fresh, And Free Sea Air Was Like A Cool, Quieting Thought.

When It Seems That Our Sorrow Is Too Great To Be Borne, Let Us Think Of The Great Family Of The Heavy-hearted Into Which Our Grief Has Given Us Entrance. And Inevitably, We Will Feel About Us Their Arms, Their Sympathy And Their Understanding.

We The Living, Should Not Think Of The Dead As Lonely Because If They Could Speak To Us, They Would Say: "do Not Weep For Me, Earth Was Not My True Country, I Was An Alien There: I Am At Home Where Everyone Comes."

The Best Educated Human Being Is The One Who Understands Most About The Life In Which He Is Placed.

I Take Happiness Very Seriously. It Is A Creed, A Philosophy And An Objective.

Once I Knew The Depth Where No Hope Was And Darkness Lay On The Face Of All Things. Then Love Came And Set My Soul Free.

Death Is No More Than Passing From One Room Into Another. But There's A Difference For Me, You Know. Because In That Other Room I Shall Be Able To See.

We Must Not Creep Along When Our Souls Cry Out For Us To Soar!

Do Not Think Of To-day's Failures, But Of The Success That May Come Tomorrow.

Usually They Are Quick To Discover That I Cannot See Or Hear.... It Is Not Training But Love Which Impels Them To Break Their Silence About Me With The Thud Of A Tail Rippling Against My Chair On Gambols Round The Study, Or News Conveyed By Expressive Ear, Nose, And Paw. Often I Yearn To Give Them Speech, Their Motions Are So Eloquent With Things They Cannot Say.

All Truth Goes Through Three Stages. First It Is Ridiculed. Then It Is Violently Opposed. Finally, It Is Accepted As Self-evident. Facts Are Stubborn, And Refusal To Accept Them Does Not Avoid Their Inexorable Effects-the Tragic Consequences Are Now Upon Us

No Nation Is Wise Enough To Rule Another.

Knowledge Is Happiness, Because To Have Knowledge - Broad, Deep Knowledge - Is To Know True Ends From False, And Lofty Things From Low.

Knowledge And Power

It Was My Teacher's Genius, Her Quick Sympathy, Her Loving Tact Which Made The First Years Of My Education So Beautiful. It Was Because She Seized The Right Moment To Impart Knowledge That Made It So Pleasant And Acceptable To Me.

Reality Even When It Is Sad Is Better Than Illusions. Illusions Are At The Mercy Of Any Winds That Blow. Real Happiness Must Come From Within, From A Fixed Purpose And Faith In One's Fellow Men.

Even More Amazing Than The Wonders Of Nature Are The Powers Of The Spirit.

Wonder Of Nature

I Don't Give A Damn About Semi-radicals!

I Feel The Flame Of Eternity In My Soul.

Self-pity Is Our Worst Enemy And If We Yield To It, We Can Never Do Anything Wise In This World.

Blindness Separates People From Things; Deafness Separates People From People.

I Am Not A Perfect Being. . . . I Have More Faults Than I Know What To Do With. I Have A Naughty Temper. I Am Stubborn, Impatient Of Hindrances And Of Stupidity. I Have Not In The Truest Sense A Christian Spirit. I Am Naturally A Fighter. I Am Lazy. I Put Off Till Tomorrow What I Might Better Do Today. I Do Not Feel That I Have Been Compensated For The Two Senses I Lack. I Have Worked Hard For All The Senses I Have Got, And Always I Beg For More.

It Need Not Discourage Us If We Are Full Of Doubts. Healthy Questions Keep Faith Dynamic. In Fact, Unless We Start With Doubts We Cannot Have A Deep-rooted Faith. One Who Believes Lightly And Unthinkingly Has Not Much Of A Belief. One Who Has A Faith Which Is Not To Be Shaken Has Won It Through Blood And Tears-has Worked His Or Her Way From Doubt To Truth As One Who Reaches A Clearing Through A Thicket Of Brambles And Thorns.

Children Who Hear Acquire Language Without Any Particular Effort; The Words That Fall From Others' Lips They Catch On The Wing, As It Were, Delightedly, While The Little Deaf Child Must Trap Them By A Slow And Often Painful Process. But Whatever The Process, The Result Is Wonderful. Gradually From Naming An Object We Advance Step By Step Until We Have Traversed The Vast Distance Between Our First Stammered Syllable And The Sweep Of Thought In A Line Of Shakespeare.

I Will Eat Grandfather For Dinner.

It Gives Me A Deep Comforting Sense That Things Seen Are Temporal And Things Unseen Are Eternal.

Cut Off As I Am, It Is Inevitable That I Should Sometimes Feel Like A Shadow Walking In A Shadowy World. When This Happens I Ask To Be Taken To New York City. Always I Return Home Weary But I Have The Comforting Certainty That Mankind Is Real Flesh And I Myself Am Not A Dream.

Happiness Is Like The Mountain Summit. It Is Sometimes Hidden By Clouds, But We Know It Is There.

A Good Education Is A Stepping-stone To Wealth.

Faith Is The Strength By Which A Shattered World Shall Emerge Into The Light.

If We Make Up Our Minds That This Is A Drab And Purposeless Universe, It Will Be That, And Nothing Else. On The Other Hand, If We Believe That The Earth Is Ours, And That The Sun And Moon Hang In The Sky For Our Delight, There Will Be Joy Upon The Hills And Gladness In The Fields Because The Artist In Our Souls Glorifies Creation. Surely, It Gives Dignity To Life To Believe That We Are Born Into This World For Noble Ends, And That We Have A Higher Destiny Than Can Be Accomplished Within The Narrow Limits Of This Physical Life.

I Think The Degree Of A Nation's Civilisation May Be Measured By The Degree Of Enlightenment Of Its Women.

The Worst Thing In The World Is Not To Be Born Blind, But To Be Born With Sight, And Yet Have No Vision.

There Is No King Who Has Not Had A Slave Among His Ancestors, And No Slave Who Has Not Had A King Among His.

It Is A Terrible Thing To See And Have No Vision.

The Worst Thing Is To Be Born Sighted But To Lack Vision.

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.

What Can Rulers, Nobility And All The Lords Of The Earth Say To Justify The Horrible Killing And Maiming Of Twenty Or Thirty Million Valuable Men Who A Short While Ago Ploughed, Dug, Wove, Built, Guided The Traffic Of The World, Took Their Pleasure, Loved Their Fellows, Cherished Their Families, And Feared Naught?

Ruth Is So Loyal And Gentle-hearted, We Cannot Help Loving Her, As She Stands With The Reapers Amid The Waving Corn. Her Beautiful, Unselfish Spirit Shines Out Like A Bright Star In The Night Of A Dark And Cruel Age. Love Like Ruth's, Love Which Can Rise Above Conflicting Creeds And Deep-seated Racial Prejudices, Is Hard To Find In All The World.

I Can See, And That Is Why I Can Be Happy, In What You Call The Dark, But Which To Me Is Golden. I Can See A God-made World, Not A Manmade World.

It Is Certain That I Cannot Always Distinguish My Own Thoughts From Those I Read, Because What I Read Becomes The Very Substance And Text Of My Mind.

Everybody Talks, Nobody Listens. Good Listeners Are As Rare As White Crows.

Our Worst Foes Are Not Belligerent Circumstances, But Wavering Spirits.

Knowledge Is Power." Rather, Knowledge Is Happiness, Because To Have Knowledge - Broad, Deep Knowledge - Is To Know True Ends From False, And Lofty Things From Low. To Know The Thoughts And Deeds That Have Marked Man's Progress Is To Feel The Great Heart-throbs Of Humanity Through The Centuries; And If One Does Not Feel In These Pulsations A Heavenward Striving, One Must Indeed Be Deaf To The Harmonies Of Life.

When I Recollect The Treasure Of Friendship That Has Been Bestowed Upon Me I Withdraw All Charges Against Life. If Much Has Been Denied Me, Much, Very Much Has Been Given. So Long As The Memory Of Certain Beloved Friends Lives In My Heart I Shall Say That Life Is Good.

We Can Do Anything We Want To If We Stick To It Long Enough.

The Best Things In Life Are Unseen, Thats Why We Close Our Eyes When We Kiss, Cry, And Dream

Love? Why ... It Is What Everybody Feels For Everybody Else.

The Best Christmas Gift Of All Is The Presence Of A Happy Family All Wrapped Up With One Another. Jesus Is The Reason For The Season! From A Little Spark May Burst A Mighty Flame. The Only Blind Person At Christmastime Is He Who Has Not Christmas In His Heart.

The Saddest Thing In Life Is People With Sight, But Without Vision.

My Life Has Been Happy Because I Have Had Wonderful Friends And Plenty Of Interesting Work To Do.

Wonderful Friends

Everything Has Its Wonders, Even Darkness And Silence, And I Learn, Whatever State I May Be In, Therein To Be Content.

Optimism Is The Faith That Leads To Achievement. Nothing Can Be Done Without Hope And Confidence.

Although The World Is Full Of Suffering, It Is Full Also Of The Overcoming Of It. My Optimism, Then, Does Not Rest On The Absence Of Evil, But On A Glad Belief In The Preponderance Of Good And A Willing Effort Always To Cooperate With The Good, That It May Prevail.

The Best Preparedness Is The One That Disarms The Hostility Of Other Nations And Makes Friends Of Them.

The Bulk Of The World's Knowledge Is An Imaginary Construction.

If We Spend The Time We Waste In Sighing For The Perfect Golden Fruit In Fulfilling The Conditions Of Its Growth, Happiness Will Come, Must Come. It Is Guaranteed In The Very Laws Of The Universe. If It Involves Some Chastening And Renunciation, Well, The Fruit Will Be All The Sweeter For This Touch Of Holiness.

So Long As I Confine My Activities To Social Service And The Blind, They Compliment Me Extravagantly, Calling Me 'arch Priestess Of The Sightless,' 'wonder Woman,' And A 'modern Miracle.' But When It Comes To A Discussion Of Poverty, And I Maintain That It Is The Result Of Wrong Economics-that The Industrial System Under Which We Live Is At The Root Of Much Of The Physical Deafness And Blindness In The World-that Is A Different Matter!

Instead Of Being Satisfied To Alleviate Suffering, We Shall Labor Hard And Continually To Prevent It.

While The Right Friends Are Near Us, We Feel That All Is Well. Our Everyday Life Blossoms Suddenly Into Bright Possibilities.

If I Regarded My Life From The Point Of View Of The Pessimist, I Should Be Undone. I Should Seek In Vain For The Light That Does Not Visit My Eyes And The Music That Does Not Ring In My Ears. I Should Beg Night And Day And Never Be Satisfied. I Should Sit Apart In Awful Solitude, A Prey To Fear And Despair. But Since I Consider It A Duty To Myself And To Others To Be Happy, I Escape A Misery Worse Than Any Physical Deprivation.

We, The People, Are Not Free. Our Democracy Is But A Name. We Vote? What Does That Mean? It Means We Choose Between Tweedledee And Tweedledum. We Elect Expensive Masters To Do Our Work For Us, And Then Blame Them Because They Work For Themselves And For Their Class.

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.

The Worst Calamity: 'to Have Eyes And Fail To See.'

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Catherine The Great

Delmore Schwartz

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