Brian Lara Quotes

I don't know what it's like to be an arm amputee, or have even one flesh-and-bone leg, or to have cerebral palsy. I don't speak for such huge and diverse groups. What I've tried to do, what I've been fortunate to do, is to live my live and create my life as I've wanted to create it.

People with disabilities have abilities too and that is what this course is all about - making sure those abilities blossom and shine so that all the dreams you have can come true.

I've still never had a dream that I'm disabled. Never.

If I can be an inspiration for someone, that's fine, but just don't look down on me. Don't say, 'Oh, you're in a wheelchair.'

Every person with a disability is an individual.

That's really what the Paralympics is about: these amazing athletes and this technology that's allowing them to reach their full potential.

Diversity is not only color, but it also includes individuals with disabilities.

I'm not saying 'I have cerebral palsy, pay attention to me.' We all have problems, and we have to figure out how to live our best life.

I have understood by observing blind people that they are very confident. They don't see themselves as suffering from a disability.

Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one thing well, you're needed by someone.

Civil Rights opened the windows. When you open the windows, it does not mean that everybody will get through. We must create our own opportunities.

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, and in spite of what most people might have expected from a young girl growing up deaf, life for me was like one long episode of 'The Brady Bunch.' Despite whatever barriers were in my way, I imagined myself as Marcia Brady skating down the street saying 'hi' to everyone, whether they knew me or not.

I took my sight and mobility for granted.

They see me wheeling around in a beautiful gown, and they realize you can look elegant, and you can lead a happy life in a wheelchair. I know I've helped handicapped people, because I've received many comments.

Pity? You don't want to be pitied because you're a cripple in a wheelchair? Stay in your house!

It's society that disables an individual by not investing in enough creativity to allow for someone to show us the quality that makes them rare and valuable and capable.

Employers have recognized for some time that it's smart business to have a diverse workforce - one in which many views are represented and everyone's talents are valued. Well, disability is part of diversity.

Effective use of Braille is as important to the blind as independent mobility, knowledge in the use of adaptive technology, and the core belief that equality, opportunity and security are truly possible for all people who are blind.

Everyone has setbacks. I'm no different. I happen to have no legs. That's pretty much the fact.

If we see someone in a wheelchair, we assume they cannot walk. It may be that they can walk three, four, five steps. That, to them, means they can walk.

For me, the wheelchair symbolizes disability in a way a cane does not.

I hope that when people with Down's see me, they will be inspired to do more than they think they can.

As a philanthropist, I try to help people take ownership. Everything I've done is rooted in the notion that every human being is born equally capable. What people lack is equal opportunity.

It was physically difficult, adjusting to wheelchair life, but I remember a great relief and happiness that I was finally getting somewhere, finding musicians to work with that were sympathetic.

Blind don't mean you can't, you know, listen.