Helen Keller

Every line we carry

Each one links to its source, what it means, and the shirt in any of our looks.

1. The world is full of suffering. It is full also of the overcoming of it.

   Keller, deaf and blind from infancy, did not deny suffering. She pointed at the equal fact that people overcome it every day. Look for the overcoming; join it.

   Optimism (1903), Part I, Original English (Optimism: An Essay, 1903)

2. Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.

   Keller says every great work began with someone believing it could be done. Hope is not naive; it is the starting fuel. Without it, nobody even begins.

   Optimism (1903), Original English (Optimism: An Essay, 1903)

3. No pessimist ever sailed to an uncharted land.

   Explorers have to believe there is something out there. Keller notes that the people who opened new worlds were optimists. Doubt keeps you in port.

   Optimism (1903), Original English (Optimism: An Essay, 1903)

4. My optimism does not rest on the absence of evil.

   Keller's hope is not blindness to what is wrong. It is a judgment that good outweighs it, plus a willingness to help good win. Optimism is a choice to work.

   Optimism (1903), Part I, Original English (Optimism: An Essay, 1903)

5. Unless I till my own field, I cannot reap a kernel of the good.

   Good thoughts are not enough for Keller; they have to become practical living. A hopeful mood plants nothing. Do the work in your own field.

   Optimism (1903), Original English (Optimism: An Essay, 1903)

6. Every struggle is a victory.

   Keller describes her studies as a climb she must zigzag alone. Each push upward counts, whether or not it reaches the top. The fight itself is the win.

   The Story of My Life (1903), ch. 20, Original English (The Story of My Life, 1903)

7. No royal road to the summit. I zigzag it in my own way.

   There is no shortcut up the hill, and no path cut for you in particular. Keller found her own switchbacks. Your route can look odd and still reach the top.

   The Story of My Life (1903), ch. 20, Original English (The Story of My Life, 1903)

8. I slip back, I fall, I trudge on, I climb higher.

   Keller's honest account of progress: backwards, down, stuck, then slowly up. That is what learning anything hard feels like. Expect the slips and keep trudging.

   The Story of My Life (1903), ch. 20, Original English (The Story of My Life, 1903)

9. I lose my temper and find it again and keep it better.

   Even Keller lost her temper. What matters is finding it again and holding it a little better each time. Self-control is a skill that improves with each lapse you recover from.

   The Story of My Life (1903), ch. 20, Original English (The Story of My Life, 1903)

10. We could never learn to be brave if there were only joy in the world.

    Keller wrote this as a girl in a letter. Courage and patience need hard things to grow against. Pain is the classroom; be a good student.

    The Story of My Life (1903), Letters, Original English (The Story of My Life, 1903)

11. Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence.

    Keller lived in darkness and silence and still found wonder there. If she could, so can you, wherever you are stuck. Look closer at the place you are in.

    The Story of My Life (1903), ch. 22, Original English (The Story of My Life, 1903)

12. Make the light in others' eyes my sun.

    Keller could not see the sun, so she took her light from other people's joy. Happiness found in others is always available. Make someone glad and borrow their light.

    The Story of My Life (1903), ch. 22, Original English (The Story of My Life, 1903)