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Famous People with Disabilities
"Wish not so much to live long, but to live well"
-Benjamin Franklin
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
Abbott, Bud....................................................................(epilepsy)
Aldridge, Lionel.............................................................(mental disorder)
"Success is not in rising, it's in rising when you fall"
Aldrin, Edwin Eugene Jr [Buzz]..................................(bipolar disorder)
“For one crowning moment, we were creatures of the cosmic ocean, an epoch that a thousand years hence may be seen as the signature of our century.”
Alexander, Grover Cleveland.................................... (epilepsy)
"Less than a foot made the difference between a hero and a bum."
Ali, Mohammad.............................................................(neuromuscular)
“The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”
Andersen, Hans Christian..........................................(learning disability)
“Being born in a duck yard does not matter, if only you are hatched from a swan's egg”
Aristotle...........................................................................(epilepsy)
“Dignity consists not in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them.”
B
Beethoven, Ludwig Von.............................................(bipolar depression)
“I wish you music to help with the burdens of life, and to help you release your happiness to others.”
Bell, Alexander Graham..............................................(learning disability)
“When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.”
Bonaparte, Napoleon I................................................(epilepsy)
“Victory belongs to the most persevering.”
Burton, Tim....................................................................(bipolar disorder)
“I remember when I was younger, I had these two windows in my room, nice windows that looked out onto the lawn, and for some reason my parents walled them up and gave me this little slit window that I had to climb up on a desk to see out of. To this day I never asked them why; I should ask them.” C |
Carroll, Lewis..................................................................(epilepsy)
“Be what you would seem to be -- or, if you'd like it put more simply -- Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.”
Charles, Ray...................................................................(visual impairment)
"I never considered myself part of rock 'n' roll. My stuff was more adult. It was more difficult for teenagers to relate to; my stuff was filled with more despair than anything you'd associate with rock 'n' roll. Since I couldn't see people dancing, I didn't write jitterbugs or twists. I wrote rhythms that moved me. My style required pure heart singing."
Cher [Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPierre]................................(learning disability)
"I'm not a role model, nor have I ever tried to be a role model. The only thing about me as a role model is I've managed to stay here and be working and survive. For 40 years".
Churchill, Winston Sir...................................................(bipolar disorder)
Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.
Condon, Richard............................................................(speech impairment)
“I am no longer twelve and have grown brittle. I do not ride, nor do I hunt—an insanity that involves balancing oneself upon a horse while it leaps over stone walls. Beyond the film business, I have not greeted either end of a horse for about forty-five years.”
Coppola, Francis............................................................(physical impairment)
“Happiness is happiness.”
Cronyn, Hume.................................................................(visual impairment)
“To act you must have a sense of truth and some degree of dedication.”
Cruise, Tom [Thomas Cruise Mapother IV]..................(learning disability)
"The thing about film-making is I give it everything, that's why I work so hard. I always tell young actors to take charge. It's not that hard. Sign your own checks, be responsible."
D
Dickens, Charles.............................................................(mental disorders)
“We need never be ashamed of our tears.”
Disney, Walt......................................................................(learning disability)
“If it can be dreamed, it can be done.”
E
Edison, Thomas...............................................................(hearing impairment)
“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
Einstein, Albert.................................................................(learning disability)
“I never think of the future - it comes soon enough.”
Euler, Leonhard...............................................................(visual impairment)
F
Falk, Peter.........................................................................(visual impairment)
Ferrigno, Lou...................................................................(hearing impairment)
"If I hadn't lost my hearing, I wouldn't be where I am now. It forced me to maximize my potential. I had to be better than the average person to succeed. That's why I chose bodybuilding. If I became a world champion, if I could win admiration from my peers, I could do anything."
Fisher, Carrie...................................................................(bipolar disorder)
“There is no point at which you can say, 'Well, I'm successful now. I might as well take a nap.'”
Fitzgerald, F. Scott.........................................................(learning disability)
“Genius is the ability to put into effect what is in your mind.”
Fox, Michael J.................................................................(neuromuscular)
“I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business.” G |
Glover, Danny.......................................................(learning disability) (epilepsy)
"By leadership of the whole, I mean participation on a far greater level than we every imagined ... That leadership has to be focused on some very radical ideas that only we as 21st Century people can talk about: making sure people have a livelihood, making sure people receive a living wage, making sure the environment, the Mother Earth, is embraced and cherished and not destroyed. Making sure people are healthy in what they eat, making sure we hold people and corporations accountable for the damage they do not only to our environment but to our institutions. This requires an enormous level of participation of the whole. I believe that the majority of the people on the planet aspire to these goals and all of us are going to have to participate in our own rescue."
Goldberg, Whoopi [Caryn E. Johnson]........................(learning disability)
I fear waking up one morning and finding out it was all for nothing. We're here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.
H |
Hawking, Stephen.........................................................(physical impairment)
“It matters if you just don't give up.”
Hemingway, Ernest.......................................................(mental disorder)
“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.”
I |
Inouye, Daniel.................................................................(amputee)
"You can make a difference in your life and in the lives of others if you simply care enough to try, and care enough to persevere."
J |
Jefferson, Thomas........................................................(learning disability)
“I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”
John, Elton [Reginald Kenneth Dwight].......................(epilepsy)
Jones, James Earl.........................................................(speech impairment)
"One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter."
K |
Keats, John.....................................................................(mental disorder)
“Don't be discouraged by a failure. It can be a positive experience. Failure is, in a sense, the highway to success, inasmuch as every discovery of what is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, and every fresh experience points out some form of error which we shall afterwards carefully avoid.”
Keller, Helen..............................................(visual impairment) (hearing impairment)
”Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything good in the world.”
Kennedy, John F..........................................................(learning disability)
“We must use time as a tool, not as a crutch”.
Kidder, Margot..............................................................(bipolar disorder)
"I suppose that if you want to be famous and suddenly it happens and you don't like it, it's nobody's fault but your own."
L |
Lennon, John.................................................................(learning disability)
“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted.”
Lincoln, Abraham..........................................................(mental disease)
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.”
M |
Madison, James.............................................................(epilepsy)
“The belief in a God All Powerful wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the world and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources nor adapted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities impressed with it."
McQueen, Steve.............................................................(learning disability)
“I worked hard, and if you work hard you get the goodies.”
Milton, John.....................................................................(visual impairment)
“He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires and fears is more than a king.”
Monroe, Marilyn [Norma Jean Mortenson]..................(speech impairment)
“I learned to walk as a baby and I haven't had a lesson since.”
N |
Newton, Sir Issac...........................................................(epilepsy)
“If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention, than to any other talent”.
Nobel, Alfred....................................................................(epilepsy)
“If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied.”
O
P |
Patton, George...............................................................(learning disability)
“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”
Pryor, Richard................................................................(multiple sclerosis)
“Its so much easier for me to talk about my life in front of two thousand people than it is one-to-one. I'm a real defensive person, because if you were sensitive in my neighborhood you were something to eat.”
Q
R |
Reagan, Ronald..............................................................(hearing impairment)
“There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder.”
Reeve, Christopher........................................................(physical impairment)
“I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano..........................................(polio)
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.”
S |
Schumann, Robert..........................................................(mental disorder)
“Only when the form grows clear to you, will the spirit become so too.”
Somers, Suzanne............................................................(learning disability)
“Fame is an uncomfortable state of being, but if I can use it and put out messages that are important, then I embrace fame.”
Stallone, Sylvester...........................................................(learning disability)
"Once in one's life, for one mortal moment, one must make a grab for immortality; if not, one has not lived."
Sting [Gordon Summer].....................................................(mental disorder)
T
U
V |
Van Gogh, Vincent...........................................................(mental disorder)(epilepsy)
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”
Verne, Jules.......................................................................(learning disability)
“Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real.”
W |
Walters, Barbara................................................................(speech impairment)
"I was the kind nobody thought could make it. I had a funny Boston accent. I couldn't pronounce my R's. I wasn't a beauty."
Washington, George.........................................................(learning disability)
“One of the things that has helped me as much as any other, is not how long I am going to live, but how much I can do while living.”
Williams, Robin...................................................................(attention deficit disorder)
“You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.”
Willis, Bruce.........................................................................(speech impairment)
"You can't undo the past... but you can certainly not repeat it."
Wilson, Brian........................................(bipolar disorder) (hearing impairment)
Winkler, Henry.....................................................................(attention deficit disorder)
“Your mind knows only some things, your inner voice, your instinct, knows everything. If you listen to what you know instinctively, it will always lead you down the right path."
Woo, John............................................................................(physical impairment)
“I'm not a master; I'm just a hard-working filmmaker. I would like everyone to see me as a friend rather than a master.”
Woolf, Virginia.....................................................................(mental disorder)
“If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.”
Wright, Wilbur......................................................................(learning disability)
“It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill.”
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