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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.

-Helen Keller

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Observers In The Full

Helen Keller

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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.

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

Good Friends Walk In When The Old Ones Walk Out.

The Greatest Tragedy To Befall A Person Is To Have Sight But Lack Vision.

There Is A Dangerous Optimism Of Ignorance And Indifference.

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

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.

A Good Education Is A Stepping-stone To Wealth.

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.

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

I Believe Humility Is A Virtue, But I Prefer Not To Use It Unless It Is Absolutely Necessary.

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

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

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

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.

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

God Himself Is Not Secure, Having Given Man Dominion Over His Work.

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

Making Mistakes

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

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

The Living Word Awakened My Soul, Gave It Light, Hope, Joy, Set It Free!

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

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

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.

Use Your Eyes As If Tomorrow You Would Become Blind.

Literature Is My Utopia. Here I Am Not Disenfranchised. 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.

Life Is Short And Unpredictable. Eat The Dessert First!

Inspirational Life

I Am Only One, But Still I Am One.

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

Thus I Came Up Out Of Egypt And Stood Before Sinai, And A Power Divine Touched My Spirit And Gave It Sight, So That I Beheld Many Wonders. And From The Sacred Mountain I Heard A Voice Which Said, ‘knowledge Is Love And Light And Vision.

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.

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?

The Tragic Side Of Many Architectural Enterprises Is That They Destroy Natural Beauties Which Are A Priceless Possession And Cannot Be Replaced.

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

Wonderful Friends

My Optimism Is Grounded In Two Worlds, Myself And What Is About Me. 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.

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.

I Can Not Do Everything, But I Can Do Something. I Must Not Fail To Do The Something That I Can Do.

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.

People Are Too Prone To Think That The Actual Is The Limit Of Possibility. They Believe That All That Has Been Done Is All That Can Be Done.

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.

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

The Inferiority Of Women Is Man-made.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

We Cannot Freely And Wisely Choose The Right Way For Ourselves Unless We Know Both Good And Evil.

No Smile Is As Beautiful As The One That Struggles Through Tears.

Surely There Is No Road Of Effort So Steep But A Loving Deed May Soften Its Hardshness.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

We Can Drift Along With General Opinion And Tradition, Or We Can Throw Ourselves Upon The Guidance Of The Soul Within And Steer Courageously Toward Truth... We Have A Choice In Every Event And Every Limitation And....to Choose Is To Create.

Fear: The Best Way Out Is Through.

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

I, Who Have Never Heard A Sound, Tell You There Is No Silence, And I, Who Have Never Seen A Ray Of Light, Tell You There Is No Darkness.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

I Feel The Flame Of Eternity In My Soul.

Certainly It Is One Of Our Sweetest Experiences That When We Are Touched By Some Noble Affection Or Pure Joy, We Remember The Dead Most Tenderly, And Feel More Powerfully Drawn To Them.

We Should Respect All People.

Every Modern War Has Had Its Roots In Exploitation.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

The Simplest Way To Be Happy Is To Do Good.

You Make Me Happy

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

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.

Happiness Is The Final And Perfect Fruit Of Obedience To The Laws Of Life.

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

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.

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

The Place Between Your Comfort Zone And Your Dream Is Where Life Takes Place.

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

Wonder Of Nature

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

This World Is So Full Of Care And Sorrow That It Is A Gracious Debt We Owe To One Another To Discover The Bright Crystals Of Delight Hidden In Somber Circumstances And Irksome Tasks.

Toleration Is The Greatest Gift Of The Mind.

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

I Have Often Been Asked, Do Not People Bore You? I Do Not Understand Quite What That Means. I Suppose The Calls Of The Stupid And Curious, Especially Of Newspaper Reporters, Are Always Inopportune. I Also Dislike People Who Try To Talk Down To My Understanding. They Are Like People Who When Walking With You Try To Shorten Their Steps To Suit Yours; The Hypocrisy In Both Cases Is Equally Exasperating.

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

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.

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

No Pessimist Ever Discovered The Secrets Of The Stars.

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.

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.

I Have Depended On Books Not Only For Pleasure And For The Wisdom They Bring To All Who Read, But Also For That Knowledge Which Comes To Others Through Their Eyes And Their Ears.

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

Christmas Day Is The Festival Of Optimism.

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.

The Danger Of Having The Constitution Twisted And Misconstrued To Support Vested Interests And Prejudices Must Be Guarded Against If American Democracy Is To Maintain A Progressive Character.

I Can See In What You Call The Dark, But Which To Me Is Golden.

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.

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

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.

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.

The Welfare Of Each Is Bound Up In The Welfare Of All.

Joy Is A Spiritual Element That Gives Vicissitudes Unity And Significance.

The Best Things In Life Are Not Seen Or Heard ... But Felt With The Heart.

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

Change For The Better

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

My Friends Have Made The Story Of My Life.

World Peace Will Never Come Until The Passion Of Supremacy Is Combated.

Your Success And Happiness Lie In You.

Happiness Calls Out Responsive Gladness In Others. There Is Enough Sadness In The World Without Yours ... Never Doubt The Excellence And Permanence Of What Is Yet To Be. Join The Great Company Of Those Who Make The Barren Places Of Life Fruitful With Kindness.

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.

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.

The Only Moral Virtue Of War Is That It Compels The Capitalist System To Look Itself In The Face And Admit It Is A Fraud. It Compels The Present Society To Admit That It Has No Morals It Will Not Sacrifice For Gain.

What Induces A Child To Learn But His Delight In Knowing?

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

True Friends Never Apart Maybe In Distance But Never In Heart

Long Distance Relationship

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Be Happy, Talk Happiness. Happiness Calls Out Responsive Gladness In Others. There Is Enough Sadness In The World Without Yours.

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.

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

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.

It Is So Pleasant To Learn About New Things. Every Day I Find How Little I Know, But I Do Not Feel Discouraged Since God Has Given Me An Eternity In Which To Learn More.

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.

Truly I Have Looked In The Very Heart Of Darkness And Refused To Yield To Its Paralyzing Influence, But In Spirit I Am One Of Those Who Walk The Morning.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

To Be Blind Is Bad, But Worse Is To Have Eyes And Not See.

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.

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.

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

What A Joy It Is To Feel The Soft, Springy Earth Under My Feet Once More, To Follow Grassy Roads That Lead To Ferny Brooks Where I Can Bathe My Fingers In A Cataract Of Rippling Notes, Or To Clamber Over A Stone Wall Into Green Fields That Tumble And Roll And Climb In Riotous Gladness!

Great Poetry Needs No Interpreter Other Than A Responsive Heart.

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

I Believe In The Immortality Of The Soul Because I Have Within Me Immortal Longings.

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

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.

If We Do Not Like Our Work, And Do Not Try To Get Happiness Out Of It, We Are A Menace To Our Profession As Well As To Ourselves.

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

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.

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.

Happiness Rarely Keeps Company With An Empty Stomach

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

Love Is Like A Beautiful Flower Which I May Not Touch, But Whose Fragrance Makes The Garden A Place Of Delight Just The Same.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

I Cannot Remember How I Felt When The Light Went Out Of My Eyes. I Suppose I Felt It Was Always Night And Perhaps I Wondered Why The Day Did Not Come.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

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

History Is A Record Of The Incessant Struggle Of Humanity Against Ignorance And Oppression.

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