apl.de.ap Quotes

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.

If you're disabled, and you're trying to achieve your dreams, accept the fact right now that you have to work 500 times more than the average bear next to you. Stop bucking for sympathy, put on your titanium legs, and run.

I faced odds when glaucoma took the bat out of my hands. But I didn't give in or feel sorry for myself. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: 'It may be cloudy in my right eye, but the sun is shining very brightly in my left eye.'

But my message to people with or without a condition is the fact that you can still do anything you set your mind to. You just have to do it in a slightly different way than other people.

The thing about living with any disability is that you adapt; you do what works for you.

I proved to myself that if I believe in something and set my mind to it I could actually accomplish it.

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.

A handicap is only if you let it be a handicap.

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.

For me, cerebral palsy wasn't the biggest deal, because I always had it. You know, you always work with what you got.

Since losing my legs, I've found out that I am able to help other people by sharing how I've overcome my obstacles.

It's not our disabilities, it's our abilities that count.

I don't want anyone to feel they can't achieve their ambitions if they are dyslexic.

I adopted two children, then I got eye disease and five rounds of surgery. I went blind in one eye, then the other eye, and that went on for three or four years. I got very enamored and involved with the theater and did a lot of plays.

I'm the kinda person, you gotta fight for everything you get. You gotta believe in yourself.

If I'm the weak link or whatever, I guess that means I've got something to prove. I've always had something to prove.

I tell people to look at me and understand that everybody first told me that I couldn't be a 6-foot, 9-inch point guard, and I proved them wrong. Then they told me I couldn't be a businessman and make money in urban America, and I proved them wrong. And they thought I couldn't win all these championships, and I proved them wrong there as well.

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

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.

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 think I'm the most positive guy still going in my generation, and I'm out there to prove that.

No matter how poor my eyes are I can still talk.

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.

If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it.