Helen Keller Inspirational Quotations

Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding-line, and had no way of knowing how near the harbour was.

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.

To keep our faces toward chance and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.

A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.

Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.

Your success and happiness lie in you.

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

Toleration is the greatest gift of the mind; it requires the same effort of the brain that it takes to balance oneself on a bicycle.

So much has been given to me I have not time to ponder over that which has been denied.

Life is either a great adventure or nothing.

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

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 something that I can do.

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

It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision.

My share of the work may be limited, but the fact that it is work makes it precious.

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.

One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.

Life is short and unpredictable. Eat the dessert first!

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.

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.

Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them; but do not let them master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight.

We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.

Often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for 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.

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

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

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.

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 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.

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

All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming.

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.

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.

You will succeed if you persevere; and you will find joy in overcoming obstacles.

A bend in the road is not the end of the road…Unless you fail to make the turn.

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

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

To think clearly without hurry or confusion; To love everybody sincerely; To act in everything with the highest motives; To trust God unhesitatingly.

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

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

The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.

Even if you have a problem, you don't need to be one.