Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.
Helen Keller (1880–1968) lost her hearing and sight at nineteen months. With her teacher Anne Sullivan she learned to read and write, and became the first deafblind person to earn a university degree. She wrote and lectured all her life, campaigning for disability rights and for women's suffrage.
About this theme: Resilience
Resilience has travelled a long way in twenty years, from a term in psychology to a word on posters. It originally described something measurable: a system's capacity to return to equilibrium after a shock. Applied to people it never meant being unaffected — it meant recovering, and that distinction is the first casualty of popular use.
More by Helen Keller
- Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.
- Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.
- The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart.
- Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
- Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.
More on Resilience
- Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.— Publilius Syrus
- The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.— Confucius
- Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.— Ovid
- I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.— Louisa May Alcott
- Obstacles cannot crush me; every obstacle yields to stern resolve.— Leonardo da Vinci