Helen Keller Quotes

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows. 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. The highest result of education is tolerance. 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. People don’t like to think, if one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant. A bend in the road is not the end of the road… Unless you fail to make the turn. Happiness does not come from without, it comes from within. We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world. What I'm looking for is not out there, it is in me. 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. Never bend your head. Hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye. What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, For all that we love deeply becomes a part of us. The most pathetic person in the world is some one who has sight but no vision. Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it. 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. The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light. 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. Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another. So long as you can sweeten another's pain, life is not in vain. 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. Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows. It's what the sunflowers do. Knowledge is love and light and vision. No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit. Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything good in the world. Life is a succesion of lessons which must be lived to be understood. 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. 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. Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them; but do not let them master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight. Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.

Helen Keller

1880 - 1968