There are no such things as divine, immutable or inalienable rights. Rights are things we get when we are strong enough to make good our claim to them.
The world is sown with good; but unless I turn my glad thoughts into practical living and till my own field. I cannot reap a kernel of the good.
The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.
The woman who works for a dollar a day has as much right as any other human being to say what the conditions of her work should be.
The wise fools who sit in the high places of justice fail to see that, in revolutionary times like the present, vital issues are settled, not by statutes, decrees and authorities, but in spite of them.
The true test of a character is to face hard conditions with the determination to make them better.
The tragic side of so many modern architectural enterprises is that they often destroy natural beauties which are a priceless possession and cannot be replaced.
The test of all beliefs is their practical effect in life. If it be true that optimism compels the world forward, and pessimism retards it, then it is dangerous to propagate a pessimistic philosophy.
The test of a democracy is not the magnificence of buildings or the speed of automobiles or the efficiency of air transportation, but rather the care given to the welfare of all the people.
The problems of deafness are deeper and more complex, if not more important, than those of blindness. Deafness is a much worse misfortune. For it means the loss of the most vital stimulus – the sound of the voice that brings language, sets thought astir and keeps us in the intellectual company of man.
The power of effecting changes for the better is within ourselves, not in the favorableness of circumstances.
The only real blind person at Christmas-time is he who has not Christmas in his heart. We sightless children had the best of eyes that day in our hearts and in our finger-tips. We were glad from the child’s necessity of being happy. The blind who have outgrown the child’s perpetual joy can be children again on Christmas Day and celebrate in the midst of them who pipe and dance and sing a new song!
