Best Disability Quotes

In honor of the Paralympics, I want to share my favorite quotes about disabilities. I’d LOVE to see a change in the way disabilities are viewed.

“….What I learned was that these athletes were not disabled, they were superabled. The Olympics is where heroes are made. The Paralympics is where heroes come.” Joey Reiman

“Hard things are put in our way, not to stop us, but to call out our courage and strength.” Unknown

“Being disabled should not mean being disqualified from having access to every aspect of life.” Emma Thompson

“If we are to achieve a richer culture, we must weave one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.” Margaret Meade

“Equality is the public recognition, effectively expressed in institutions and manners, of the principle that an equal degree of attention is due to the needs of all human beings.” Simone Weil

“Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn’t know that so it goes on flying anyway” Mary Kay Ash

“I have had this desire my whole life to prove people wrong, to show them I could do things they didn’t think I could do.” David A. Paterson

“Know me for my abilities, not my disability.” Robert M. Hensel

“I choose not to place “DIS”, in my ability.” Robert M. Hensel

“I don’t have a dis-ability, I have a different-ability.” Robert M. Hensel

“My disability has opened my eyes to see my true abilities.” Robert M. Hensel

“When everyone else says you can’t, determination says,”YES YOU CAN.” Robert M. Hensel

“I have a Disability yes that’s true, but all that really means is I may have to take a slightly different path than you.” Robert M. Hensel

“As a disabled man, let my life be a reflection of the endless amount of ability that exists in each and everyone of us.” Robert M. Hensel

“We, the ones who are challenged, need to be heard. To be seen not as a disability, but as a person who has and will continue to bloom. To be seen not only as a handicap, but as a well intact human being.” Robert M. Hensel

“Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn’t mean he lacks vision.” Stevie Wonder

“It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has to get on with life and I haven’t done badly. People won’t have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.” –Stephen Hawking

“Disability is natural. We must stop believing that disabilities keep a person from doing something. Because that’s not true . . . Having a disability doesn’t stop me from doing anything.” Benjamin Snow, Grade 8, Woodland Park, Colorado, in his essay “Attitudes About People with Disabilities”

“To sit there and tell anybody they can’t do something because of a disability, I think that’s ridiculous.” Pat McDonald, who uses a wheelchair and has a goal of playing on the PGA Tour

“I was slightly brain damaged at birth, and I want people like me to see that they shouldn’t let a disability get in the way. I want to raise awareness – I want to turn my disability into ability.”Susan Boyle

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

“Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.” Bethany Hamilton

“I can’t change it, That was God’s plan for my life and I’m going to go with it.” Bethany Hamilton

“Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you don’t let fear stop you.” Bethany Hamilton

“I don’t need easy. I just need possible.” Bethany Hamilton

“I could never have embraced this many people with two arms.” Bethany Hamilton

“The challenges in our lives are there to STRENGTHEN our CONVICTIONS. They are NOT there to run us over.” Nick Vujicic

“If I fail, I try again, and again, and again. If YOU fail, are you going to try again? The human spirit can handle much worse than we realize. It matters HOW you are going to FINISH. Are you going to finish strong?” Nick Vujicic

“If the world thinks you’re not good enough, it’s a lie, you know. Get a second opinion.” Nick Vujicic

“I never met a bitter person who was thankful. Or a thankful person who was bitter.” Nick Vujicic

“In life you have a choice: Bitter or Better? Choose better, forget bitter.” Nick Vujicic

“We are put in situations to build our character… not destroy us.” Nick Vujicic

“Never give up.” Nick Vujicic

“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.” Helen Keller

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

“Keep your face to the Sunshine and you will not see the Shadows.” Helen Keller

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

“As selfishness and complaint pervert the mind, so love with its joy clears and sharpens the vision.” Helen Keller

“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.” Helen Keller

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

“The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but has no vision.” Helen Keller

“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.” Helen Keller

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

“One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.” Helen Keller

“I thank God for my handicaps, for through them I have found myself, my work and my God.” Helen Keller

“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.” Christopher Reeve

“I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” Christopher Reeve

“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.” Christopher Reeve

“Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one thing well, you’re needed by someone.” Martina Navratilova

“The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” Scott Hamilton

Word Art Freebies from Disability Quotes

“Finish Strong” Word-Art Freebie

“Never Give Up” Word-Art Freebie

“Hope and Confidence” Word-Art Freebie

“Once You Choose Hope” Word-Art Freebie

“Disability Is a Matter of Perception” Word Art Freebie

“The Only Disability” Word Art Freebie

What is your favorite disability quote?