Itzhak Perlman Quotes

When I first had my legs amputated, it was hard for me to be positive and feel pretty. Many people don't know that someone with a disability can be strong and beautiful and successful as an athlete.

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

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.'

Being disabled doesn't have to be a disadvantage.

Being disabled doesn't mean you have a disadvantage

The disabled people that do sport, they don't think about what they don't have but try to get better with what they do have. That is the same for me.

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'm officially disabled, but I'm truly enabled because of my lack of limbs. My unique challenges have opened up unique opportunities to reach so many in need.

I wanted to tell a dream-come-true story about going from a closeted gay kid who loved pop culture to an out adult man making pop culture. I went from being told when I was 21 that I should never go on TV because of my crossed eyes to winding up being a 'Housewives' whisperer and talk-show host.

For me, Paralympic sport isn't about being the best human being. It's about being the best human being with that particular level of disability.

When disease took my legs, I eventually realized I didn't need them to lead a full, empowering life; Only True Disability Is in Our Mind.

Touch a man who can't walk up right, and that lame man, he's gonna fly.

I would kick this bad world's ass if I could just get on my feet

Your circumstances don't dictate your future. ... Your circumstances don't limit you.

I love when I get stories of young women that have overcome things such as birth defects that they've been hated on for or even just their own body confidence stories.

Nothing truly stops you. Nothing truly holds you back. For your own will is always within your control. Sickness may challenge your body. But are you merely your body? Lameness may impede your legs. But you are not merely your legs. Your will is bigger than your legs. Your will needn't be affected by an incident unless you let it.

A lot of my wounds have healed. They have left scars, and I can either hide my scars, put a long sleeve shirt on, and cover them up. Or, I can show them off and say, "Yeah, it happened."

I'm either a mutant or a cripple, and I refuse to be a cripple. People pity cripples, but they're afraid of mutants [...] Fear implies respect.

Women shouldn't be burdened by what existed in their past, we should all learn how to turn pain into strength.

won't you celebrate with me what i have shaped into a kind of life? i had no model. born in babylon both nonwhite and woman what did i see to be except myself? i made it up here on this bridge between starshine and clay, my one hand holding tight my other hand; come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried to kill me and has failed.

I've learned that the more people embrace their disadvantages, the less disadvantaged they become!

I wish I'd known from the beginning that I was born a strong woman. What a difference it would have made! I wish I'd known that I was born a courageous woman; I've spent so much of my life cowering. How many conversations would I not only have started but finished if I had known I possessed a warrior's heart? I wish I'd known that I'd be born to take on the world; I wouldn't have run from it for so long, but run to it with open arms.

I'm pore, I'm black, I may be ugly and can't cook, a voice say to everything listening. But I'm here.

If I hadn't been told I was garbage, I wouldn't have learned how to show people I'm talented. And if everyone had always laughed at my jokes, I wouldn't have figured out how to be so funny. If they hadn't told me I was ugly, I never would have searched for my beauty. And if they hadn't tried to break me down, I wouldn't know that I'm unbreakable.

May your boulders be your blessings. May you be able to embrace them. And may you find what's extraordinary in yourself.