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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.

-Helen Keller

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I Had Once Believed

Helen Keller

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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.

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

The Hilltop Hour Would Not Be Half So Wonderful If There Were No Dark Valleys To Traverse.

I Do Not Mean To Object To A Thorough Knowledge Of The Famous Works We Read. I Object Only To The Interminable Comments And Bewildering Criticisms That Teach But One Thing: There Are As Many Opinions As There Are Men.

Thorough Knowledge

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

...our Enjoyment Of The Great Works Of Literature Depends More Upon The Depth Of Our Sympathy Than Upon Our Understanding.

Each Day Comes To Me With Both Hands Full Of Possibilities.

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

Poetry Is The Gate Through Which I Enter The Land Of Enchantment. Once Inside The Flaming Wall, My Limitations Fall From Me, And My Spirit Is Free.

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

The True Task Is To Unite And Organize All Workers...and It Is The Workers Themselves Who Must Secure Freedom For Themselves.

To Me A Lush Carpet Of Pine Needles Or Spongy Grass Is More Welcome Than The Most Luxurious Persian Rug.

Life Is Either A Great Adventure Or Nothing.

I Hung About The Dangerous Frontier Of "guess," Avoiding With Infinite Trouble To Myself And Others The Broad Valley Of Reason.

Faith Reinvigorates The Will, Enriches The Affections, And Awakens A Sense Of Creativeness. Active Faith Knows No Fear, And It Is A Safeguard To Me Against Cynicism And Despair.

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.

Happiness Does Not Come From Without, It Comes From Within

I Find That Fact And Fancy Look Alike Across The Years That Link The Past With The Present.

A Good Education Is A Stepping-stone To Wealth.

Through My Handicaps, I Have Found My Self, My Work, My God.

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 Have Walked With People Whose Eyes Are Full Of Light But Who See Nothing In Sea Or Sky, Nothing In City Streets, Nothing In Books. It Were Far Better To Sail Forever In The Night Of Blindness With Sense, And Feeling, And Mind, Than To Be Content With The Mere Act Of Seeing. The Only Lightless Dark Is The Night Of Darkness In Ignorance And Insensibility.

We Betray Ourselves Into Smallness When We Think The Little Choices Of Each Day Are Trivial.

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.

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?

What We Have Once Enjoyed We Can Never Lose. All That We Love Deeply Becomes A Part Of Us.

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.

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

It Is Not Possible For Civilization To Flow Backwards While There Is Youth In The World. Youth May Be Headstrong, But It Will Advance It Allotted Length.

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

Silver Is Purified In Fire And So Are We. It Is In The Most Trying Times That Our Real Character Is Shaped And Revealed.

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

How Futile Are Words In The Ears Of Those Who Mourn.

Words Are The Mind's Wings, Are They Not?

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.

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.

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.

Your Success And Happiness Lie In You.

It Is Curious To Observe What Different Ideals Of Happiness People Cherish, And In What Singular Places They Look For This Well-spring Of Their Life. Many Look For It In The Hoarding Of Riches, Some In The Pride Of Power, And Others In The Achievements Of Art And Literature; A Few Seek It In The Exploration Of Their Own Minds, Or In Search For Knowledge.

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

Famous Inspirational

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

Story Of My Life

We Differ, Blind And Seeing, One From Another, Not In Our Senses, But In The Use We Make Of Them, In The Imagination And Courage With Which We Seek Wisdom Beyond All Senses.

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.

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.

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

Education Should Train The Child To Use His Brains, To Make For Himself A Place In The World And Maintain His Rights Even When It Seems That Society Would Shove Him Into The Scrap-heap.

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.

To Keep Our Faces Toward Chance And Behave Like Free Spirits In The Presence Of Fate Is Strength Undefeatable.

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.

Happiness Is A State Of Mind, And Depends Very Little On Outward Circumstances.

There Is No Better Way To Thank God For Your Sight Than By Giving A Helping Hand To Someone In The Dark.

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?

Ideas Without Action Are Useless.

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.

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

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

Often We Look So Long At The Closed Door That We Do Not See The One That 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.

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.

Speech Is The Birthright Of Every Child. It Is The Deaf Child's One Fair Chance To Keep In Touch With His Fellows.

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.

Life Is To Be Lived As A Magnificent Adventure, Or Not At All.

Be Heroes In An Army Of Construction.

Your Success And Happiness Lie In You. External Conditions Are The Accidents Of Life, Its Outer Trappings. The Great, Enduring Realities Are Love Of Service. Joy Is The Holy Fire That Keeps Our Purpose Warm And Our Intelligence Aglow. Resolve To Keep Happy, And Your Joy And You Shall Form An Invincible Host Against Difficulty.

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.

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

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.

I Wonder What Becomes Of Lost Opportunities? Perhaps Our Guardian Angel Gathers Them Up As We Drop Them, And Will Give Them Back To Us In The Beautiful Sometime When We Have Grown Wiser, And Learned How To Use Them Rightly.

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.

The Only Real Blind Person At Christmas Time Is He Who Has Not Christmas In His Heart.

Sometimes, It Is True, A Sense Of Isolation Enfolds Me Like A Cold Mist As I Sit Alone And Wait At Life’s Shut Gate. Beyond There Is Light, And Music, And Sweet Companionship; But I May Not Enter. Fate, Silent, Pitiless, Bars The Way…silence Sits Immense Upon My Soul. Then Comes Hope With A Smile And Whispers, ‘there Is Joy Is 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.

Avoiding Danger Is No Safer In The Long Run Than Exposure.

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.

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 Do Not Remember A Time Since I Have Been Capable Of Loving Books That I Have Not Loved Shakespeare.

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

Of All The Senses, Sight Must Be The Most Delightful.

When One Comes To Think Of It, There Are No Such Things As Divine, Immutable, Or Inalienable Rights. Rights Are Things We Get When We Are Strong Enough To Make Good Our Claim On Them.

Militarism. . . Is The Chief Bulwark Of Capitalism. When It Is That Militarism Is Undermined, Capitalism Will Fail.

I Found That Of The Senses, The Eye Is The Most Superficial, The Ear The Most Arrogant, Smell The Most Voluptuous, Taste The Most Superstitious And Fickle, Touch The Most Profound And The Most Philosophical.

Your Success And Happiness Lies In You. Resolve To Keep Happy, And Your Joy And You Shall Form An Invincible Host Against Difficulties.

Death Is No More Than Passing From One Room Into Another.

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.

Many Of Us Delude Ourselves With The Thought That If We Could Stand In The Lot Of Our More Fortunate Neighbor, We Could Live Better, Happier And More Useful Lives. ... It Is My Experience That Unless We Can Succeed In Our Present Position, We Could Not Succeed In Any Other.

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

More Than At Any Other Time, When I Hold A Beloved Book In My Hand My Limitations Fall From Me, My Spirit Is Free.

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.

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.

People Often ... Have No Idea How Fair The Flower Is To The Touch, Nor Do They Appreciate Its Fragrance, Which Is The Soul Of The Flower.

It Is Better To Have No Sight Than It Is To Have No Vision.

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.

Joy Is The Holy Fire That Keeps Our Purpose Warm And Our Intelligence Aglow.

True Teaching Cannot Be Learned From Text-books Any More Than A Surgeon Can Acquire His Skill By Reading About Surgery.

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

Knowing Who You Are

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

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

Lives Of Others

Burn Brightly Without Burning Out. Throw Your Heart Over The Fense And The Rest Will Follow. Keep Your Face To The Sunshine And You Wont See The Shadows

Positive Thinking

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.

Relationships Are Like Rome -- Difficult To Start Out, Incredible During The Prosperity Of The 'golden Age', And Unbearable During The Fall. Then, A New Kingdom Will Come Along And The Whole Process Will Repeat Itself Until You Come Across A Kingdom Like Egypt... That Thrives, And Continues To Flourish. This Kingdom Will Become Your Best Friend, Your Soul Mate, And Your Love.

What A Blind Person Needs Is Not A Teacher But Another Self.

My Share Of The Work May Be Limited, But The Fact That It Is Work Makes It Precious.

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

So Long As You Can Sweeten Another's Pain, Life Is Not In Vain.

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

There Is Much In The Bible Against Which Every Instinct Of My Being Rebels, So Much That I Regret The Necessity Which Has Compelled Me To Read It Through From Beginning To End. I Do Not Think That The Knowledge Which I Have Gained Of Its History And Sources Compensates Me For The Unpleasant Details It Has Forced Upon My Attention.

Blindness Is An Unfortunate Handicap But True Vision Does Not Require The Eyes.

The Woman Who Works For A Dollar A Day Has As Much Right As Any Other Human Being To Say What The Conditions Of Her Work Should Be.

The Simplest Way To Be Happy Is To Do Good.

You Make Me Happy

Never Bend Your Head. Always Hold It High. Look The World Straight In The Eye.

Deep, Solemn Optimism, It Seems To Me, Should Spring From This Firm Belief In The Presence Of God In The Individual; Not A Remote, Unapproachable Governor Of The Universe, But A God Who Is Very Near Every One Of Us, Who Is Present Not Only In Earth, Sea And Sky, But Also In Every Pure And Noble Impulse Of Our Hearts.

When One Doors Closes, Another Door Opens.

We Should Not Think Of Conversion As The Acceptance Of A Particular Creed, But As A Change Of Heart.

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

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.

The True Test Of A Character Is To Face Hard Conditions With The Determination To Make Them Better.

I Am Only One, But Still I Am One. I Cannot Do Everything, But Still I Can Do Something; And Because I Cannot Do Everything, I Will Not Refuse To Do The Something That I Can Do.

Character Cannot Be Developed In Ease And Quiet.

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 Hands Of Those I Meet Are Dumbly Eloquent To Me. The Touch Of Some Hands Is An Impertinence. I Have Met People So Empty Of Joy, That When I Clasped Their Frosty Finger-tips, It Seemed As If I Were Shaking Hands With A Northeast Storm.

No One Has A Right To Consume Happiness Without Producing It.

The Country Is Governed For The Richest, For The Corporations, The Bankers, The Land Speculators, And For The Exploiters Of Labor.

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

There Is A Dangerous Optimism Of Ignorance And Indifference.

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

Change For The Better

My Friends Have Made The Story Of My Life. In A Thousand Ways They Have Turned My Limitations Into Beautiful Privileges.

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

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

We Could Never Learn To Be Brave And Patient, If There Were Only Joy In The World.

Life Is A Daring Adventure Or Nothing.

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.

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

It Is Not Possible To Refer A Complex Difficulty To A Single Cause.

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

It Is Wonderful How Much Time Good People Spend Fighting The Devil. If They Would Only Expend The Same Amount Of Energy Loving Their Fellow Men, The Devil Would Die In His Own Tracks Of Ennui.

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 Sometimes Wonder If The Hand Is Not More Sensitive To The Beauties Of Sculpture Than The Eye. I Should Think The Wonderful Rhythmical Flow Of Lines And Curves Could Be More Subtly Felt Than Seen. Be This As It May, I Know That I Can Feel The Heart-throbs Of The Ancient Greeks In Their Marble Gods And Goddesses.

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.

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.

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

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

Where Once Stood The Steadfast Pines, Great, Beautiful, Sweet, My Hand Touched Raw, Moist Stumps. All About Lay Broken Branches, Like The Antlers Of Stricken Deer. The Fragrant, Piled-up Sawdust Swirled And Tumbled About Me. An Unreasoning Resentment Flashed Through Me At The Ruthless Destruction Of The Beauty That I Love.

I Feel The Flame Of Eternity In My Soul.

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

The Way Forward Is Simple - Just Follow Christ!

To Get Congress To Do Anything.

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

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.

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

Masculine Exhalations Are, As A Rule, Stronger, More Vivid,more Widely Differentiated Than Those Of Women. In The Odor Of Young Men There Is Something Elemental, As Of Fire, Storm, And Salt Sea. It Pulsates With Buoyancy And Desire. It Suggests All The Things Strong And Beautiful And Joyous And Gives Me A Sense Of Physical Happiness.

What Do I Consider A Teacher Should Be? One Who Breathes Life Into Knowledge So That It Takes New Form In Progress And Civilization.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

No Nation Is Wise Enough To Rule Another.

I Never Fight, Except Against Difficulties.

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

During The First Nineteen Months Of My Life I Had Caught Glimpses Of Broad, Green Fields, A Luminous Sky, Trees And Flowers Which The Darkness That Followed Could Not Wholly Blot Out. If We Have Once Seen, "the Day Is Ours, And What The Day Has Shown."

How Spiritually Blind Are Men That They Fail To See That We Are Bound Together. We Rise Or Fall Together; We Are Dwarfed Or Godlike, Free Or Chained, Together.

Walking With A Friend In The Dark Is Better Than Walking Alone In The Light.

Trying To Write Is Very Much Like Trying To Put A Chinese Puzzle Together. We Have A Pattern In Mind Which We Wish To Work Out In Words; But The Words Will Not Fit The Spaces, Or, If They Do, They Will Not Match The Design.

Rebuffed, But Always Persevering; Self-reproached, But Ever Regaining Faith; Undaunted, Tenacious, The Heart Of Man Labors Toward Immeasurably Distant Goals.

I Have Often Thought It Would Be A Blessing If Each Human Being Were Stricken Blind And Deaf For A Few Days During Their Early Adult Life. Darkness Would Make Them More Appreciative Of Sight; Silence Would Teach Them The Joys Of Sound.

The Hands Of Those I Meet Are Dumbly Eloquent To Me. The Touch Of Some Hands Is An Impertinence. I Have Met People So Empty Of Joy, That When I Clasped Their Frosty Finger-tips, It Seemed As If I Were Shaking Hands With A Northeast Storm. Others There Are Whose Hands Have Sunbeams In Them, So That Their Grasp Warms My Heart. It May Be Only The Clinging Touch Of A Child's Hand; But There Is As Much Potential Sunshine In It For Me As There Is In A Loving Glance For Others. A Hearty Handshake Or A Friendly Letter Gives Me Genuine Pleasure.

I Demand That The World Be Good, And Lo, It Obeys. I Proclaim The World Good, And Facts Range Themselves To Prove My Proclamation Overwhelmingly True. To What Good I Open The Doors Of My Being, And Jealously Shut Them Against What Is Bad. Such Is The Force Of This Beautiful And Willful Conviction, It Carries Itself In The Face Of All Opposition. I Am Never Discouraged By Absence Of Good. I Never Can Be Argued Into Hopelessness. Doubt And Mistrust Are The Mere Panic Of Timid Imagination, Which The Steadfast Heart Will Conquer, And The Large Mind Transcend.

The Beginning Of My Life Was Simple And Much Like Every Other Little Life. I Came, I Saw, I Conquered, As The First Baby In The Family Always Does.

Toleration Is The Greatest Gift Of The Mind.

Doubts And Mistrust Are The Mere Panic Of Timid Imagination, Which The Steadfast Heart Will Conquer, And The Large Mind Transcend.

Commercial Concerns Have Expanded From Family Business To Corporate Wealth Which Is Self-perpetuating And Which Enlightened Statesmen And Economists Now Dread As The Most Potent Oligarchy Yet Produced.

The Civilization Of A State Should Be Measured By The Amount Of Suffering It Prevents And The Degree Of Happiness It Makes Possible For Its Citizens.

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.

Smell Is A Fallen Angel.

He Who Marries The Spirit Of The Age Soon Becomes A Widower.

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.

The Most Beautiful World Is Always Entered Through Imagination.

For Three Things I Thank God Every Day Of My Life: Thanks That He Has Vouchsafed Me Knowledge Of His Works; Deep Thanks That He Has Set In My Darkness The Lamp Of Faith; Deep, Deepest Thanks That I Have Another Life To Look Forward To--a Life Joyous With Light And Flowers And Heavenly Song.

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

Tolerance Is The First Principle Of Community; It Is The Spirit Which Conserves The Best That All Men Think.

There Is In The Blind As In The Seeing An Absolute Which Gives Truth To What We Know To Be True, Order To What Is Orderly, Beauty To The Beautiful, Touchableness To What Is Tangible.

There Is Beauty In Everything, Even In Silence And Darkness.

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

So Long As The Memory Of Certain Beloved Friends Lives In My Heart, I Shall Say That Life Is Good.

I Do Not Want The Peace Which Passeth Understanding, I Want The Understanding Which Bringeth Peace.

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

What I Am Looking For Is Not Out There, It Is In Me.

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.

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.

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.

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

There's Only One Story, The Story Of Your Life.

What A Strange Life I Lead- A Kind Of Cinderella-life-half Glitter In Crystal Shoes, Half Mice And Cinders! But It Is A Wonderful Life All The Same.

In A Word, Literature Is My Utopia. Here I Am Not Disfranchised. No Barrier Of The Senses Shuts Me Out From The Sweet, Gracious Discourse Of My Book-friends. They Talk To Me Without Embarrassment Or Awkwardness. The Things I Have Learned And The Things I Have Been Taught Seem Of Ridiculously Little Importance Compared With Their "large Loves And Heavenly Charities.

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.

Things Must Be Felt With The Heart.

Long Distance Relationship

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.

We Have Prayed, We Have Coaxed, We Have Begged, For The Vote, With The Hope That Men, Out Of Chivalry, Would Bestow Equal Rights Upon Women And Take Them Into Partnership In The Affairs Of The State. We Hoped That Their Common Sense Would Triumph Over Prejudices And Stupidity. We Thought Their Boasted Sense Of Justice Would Overcome The Errors That So Often Fetter The Human Spirit; But We Have Always Gone Away Empty Handed. We Shall Beg No More.

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.

When One Reads Hurriedly And Nervously, Having In Mind Written Tests And Examinations, One's Brain Becomes Encumbered With A Lot Of Bric-a-brac For Which There Seems To Be Little Use.

What Could Be Worse Than Being Born Without Sight? Being Born With Sight And No Vision.

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