Donovan Quotes

I was a torch carrier in the 2012 Paralympics and every time I thought 'I can't do this' I would look at the blade runners and the athletes and wheelchairs think, okay, I can run.

My life has been a roller coaster ride, but somehow I've always been able to land on my feet and still play the guitar.

I have learned not to overlook the advantages of being me. From when I was a softball player, and I held the stolen bases record. I would slide into second with my prostheses, and the girl on the base could either step aside or meet two wooden sticks.

I ventured into fiction in 1988 with 'What Love Sees,' a biographical novel of a woman's unwavering determination to lead a full life despite blindness.

If you're an underdog, mentally disabled, physically disabled, if you don't fit in, if you're not as pretty as the others, you can still be a hero.

When I was a child, kids used to make fun of me because I was blind. But I just became more curious, 'How can I climb this tree and get an apple for this girl?' That's what mattered to me.

My legs haven't disabled me. If anything, they've enabled me.

I have immense respect for anyone with a physical deformity and the courage and confidence it takes just to go out in the world.

My being a black woman is not a deficit. It is a strength. Because I could not be where I am had I not overcome so many other barriers. Which means you know I'm relentless, you know I'm persistent, and you know I'm smart.

Many may look at me and see mostly what I have lost. I struggle to speak, my eyesight's not great, my right arm and leg are paralyzed, and I left a job I loved representing southern Arizona in Congress.

There are so many opportunities in life, that the loss of two or three capabilities is not necessarily debilitating. A handicap can give you the opportunity to focus more on art, writing, or music.

If you look at my life, generally, I've been put in situations which were difficult and which I conquered.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm as famous for my wheelchair and disabilities as I am for my discoveries.

People couldn't understand why my mama would have this blind kid out doing things like cutting wood for the fire. But her thing was: He may be blind, but he ain't stupid.

I'm not interested in playing the victim. I like stories about survivors.

My mother is a fighter. After she battled polio and learned to walk again, the doctors told her she would be a cripple her entire life. Instead of accepting defeat, she refused this fate and went on to become the West African Women's Singles tennis champion in college.

What is normal? Normal was yesterday. If you lose a leg, one day you're hopping around on one leg, so you know the difference.

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

I pray they will carry on in spite of that dreadful monster prejudice, and with patience, courage, fortitude and perseverance achieve success for themselves.

Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn't mean he lacks vision.

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

The image of Stephen Hawking - who has died aged 76 - in his motorised wheelchair, with head contorted slightly to one side and hands crossed over to work the controls, caught the public imagination as a true symbol of the triumph of mind over matter.

I see myself as a survivor, and I'm not ashamed to say I'm a survivor. To me, survivor implies strength, implies that I have been through something and I made it out the other side.

People used to call the Paralympics the 'Special Olympics.' These men and women are athletes. They are warriors. They are people who are not confined by what they have been given. It's amazing to see where, and how far, the human body can really go.

By growing up at a center for people with special needs, I learned to always fight hard to achieve what I want. In this regard, I was incredibly lucky.