Famous QuotesBelow are quotes from well-known people who are famous in the fields of politics and government, business, entertainment, sports, science, environment, invention and design, art, writing, and law. "Young George . . . although he was bright and intelligent and bursting with energy, he was unable to read and write. Patton's wife corrected his spelling, his punctuation, and his grammar." Martin Blumenson on General George Patton "I was, on the whole, considerably discouraged by my school days. It was not pleasant to feel oneself so completely outclassed and left behind at the beginning of the race." Winston Churchill "Accept the fact that you have a problem, don't try to hide it. Refuse to feel sorry for yourself----you have a challenge; never quit!" Nelson Rockefeller "Never let dyslexia be an excuse for not achieving success. Chart your course and work to make your dreams a reality. Once you do that, there is nothing to ever hinder you." Carolyn McCarthy "I'm not a doctor, lawyer, judge, or business man. They said that I would never amount to anything. I fooled them. It may be harder for a person with a disability, but never give up on your dreams." Peter Leonard "I couldn't read. I just scraped by. My solution back then was to read classic comic books because I could figure them out from the context of the pictures. Now I listen to books on tape." Charles Schwabb "Close your eyes and you will see clearly. Be still and you will hear the truth." Horst M. Rechelbacher "Understand how your brain works; recognize and understand the problems of learning differently. It is hard work to teach people like me, and it is hard for people like me to learn. To learn to read and spell makes me feel successful---at last I am whole." John Corcoran "I have learned how to be different. After I learned to be different, I enjoyed being different. It is so much fun to walk to a different drummer." Delos R. Smith "My learning disabilities pushed me to discover talents that I wasn't aware of having. It has also led me do develop products which help others who struggle through school as I did." Reyn Guyer "There is only one thing that can stop you and that is yourself. Don't think of what you can't do. The most powerful thing is the realization of what you can do." David Murdock "I never read in school. I got really bad grades--D's and F's and C's in some classes, and A's and B's in other classes. In the second week of the 11th grade, I just quit. When I was in school, it was really difficult. Almost everything I learned, I had to learn by listening. My report cards always said that I was not living up to my potential. Don't focus on how Dyslexia makes life tougher......instead........hear the invisible voices of creativity that sing louder in your heart that those less fortunate people who have not been given our gift (curse) to challenge them to greater heights. Make peace with it and fly!" Cher "I had to train myself to focus my attention. I became very visual and learned how to create mental images in order to comprehend what I read." Tom Cruise "Kids made fun of me because I was dark skinned, had a wide nose, and was dyslexic. Even as an actor, it took me a long time to realize why words and letters got jumbled in my mind and came out differently." Danny Glover "No matter what you do.....just give it your best shot!" Whoopi Goldberg "As a child, I was called stupid and lazy. On the SAT I got 159 out of 800 in math. My parents had no idea that I had a learning disability. If you will it, it is not a dream. The great thing about a learning problem is it forces you to become a problem solver." Henry Winkler "I hated school. One of the reasons was a learning disability, dyslexia, which no one understood at the time. I still can't spell." Loretta Young "I grew up in a school system . . . where nobody understood the meaning of learning disorder. In the West Indies, I was constantly being physically abused because the whipping of students was permitted." Harry Belafonte "Since I was the stupidest kid in my class, it never occurred to me to try and be perfect, so I've always been happy as a writer just to entertain myself. That's an easier place to start. Always look on the bright side of things. Be positive; negativity is the mother of failure. If you believe in yourself, you will somehow succeed." Stephen J. Cannell His childhood was "awful" - not because of any lack of parental love, but because he was so hopeless at school. He was a moody, lonely, only child whose main pleasure was playing the piano and whose father worried about him not being like other boys. He believes that success has made him a nicer person. "I feel more responsive to other people because I'm not so insecure. I just feel reassured that I wasn't the moron I thought I was." Anthony Hopkins "I was expelled from four schools. Today I still read with difficulty." Sarah Miles "For me the toughest thing about dyslexia was learning to spell it." George Burns "Our differences need not hinder us. They can strengthen us, if we use them as opportunities for growth." Joyce Bulifant "Keep moving forward....don't give up!" Tracey Gold "If you allow Spirit to guide you and you reach out for help, you'll find there is a way around any obstacle, for when you think God's forgotten to supply you with something, just look with an open heart. You'll see He only traded it for something more unique." Lindsay Wagner "I just barely got through school. The problem was a learning disability, at a time when there was nowhere to get help. A champion lives deep down inside each one of us. Find the area in your life you can excel in and dare yourself to be the best you can possibly be." Bruce Jenner "The looks, the stares, the giggles . . . I wanted to show everybody that I could do better and also that I could read." Magic Johnson "When I had dyslexia, they didn't diagnose it as that. It was frustrating and embarrassing. I could tell you a lot of horror stories about what you feel like on the inside. Keep pitching! Don't let failure of your last pitch affect the success of your next pitch." Nolan Ryan "Those who refuse to accept nothing but the best often get it. Don't ever sell yourself short" Eric Wynalda "Believe in yourself!"" Greg Louganis "Dyslexia forced me to concentrate and think out problems. It also helped me to use my imagination to visualize solutions in new and different ways. I had to work harder, longer, and be more determined to succeed." Don Coryell "For a dyslexic who does not yet know they are dyslexic, life is like a big high wall you never think you will be able to climb or get over. The moment you understand there is something called dyslexia, and there are ways of getting around the problem, the whole world opens up." Sir Jackie Stewart I barely made it through school. I read real slow. But I like to find things that nobody else has found, like a dinosaur egg that has an embryo inside. Well, there are 36 of them in the world, and I found 35." Dr. John R. Horner I am, myself, a very poor visualizer and find that I can seldom call to mind even a single letter of the alphabet in purely retinal terms. I must trace the letter by running my mental eye over its contour in order that the image of it shall leave any distinctness at all." William James "Life is full of challenges. How you handle this challenge is what builds character. Never be afraid to be who you are." Erin Brockovich Ellis "My teachers say I'm addled . . . my father thought I was stupid, and I almost decided I must be a dunce." Thomas Edison "Any big idea I've ever had came through day dreaming, letting my mind follow its own direction. Unfettered by details and societal pressures, the mind somehow creatively mixed embedded data, ideals, unnoticed connections, and enthusiasms." Paul B. MacCready "I performed poorly at school, when I attended, that is, and was perceived as stupid because of my dyslexia. I still have trouble reading. I have to concentrate very hard at going left to right, left to right, otherwise my eye just wanders to the bottom of the page." Tommy Hilfiger "Dyslexia brings more gifts than glitches. If you have it, flaunt it. When you stumble, hold out a hand. Help will come. When you achieve, stand proud and then lend a hand with humility." Mark R. Wilkinson "Having a learning disability has been a great advantage to me. I've had to work harder to be equal to my peers and that has instilled in me a strong work ethic and perseverance. I believe that it is these qualities that have led me directly to my success." Martha Stuart "You should prefer a good scientist without literary abilities than a literate one without scientific skills." Leonardo da Vinci gives me a unique vision and a heightened sensitivity. Believe in yourself and practice, practice, practice." Patricia Buckley Moss "I paint the what and way I see. I write the way it sounds. Curiosity and humor is free. I have a good life." Robert Rauschenberg "I, myself, was always recognized . . . as the "slow one" in the family. It was quite true, and I knew it and accepted it. Writing and spelling were always terribly difficult for me. My letters were without originality. I was an extraordinarily bad speller and have remained so until this day." Agatha Christie "There is never one way to get somewhere. Set your goals and find the best way for YOU to get there. Laugh along the journey." Norla D. Chee "Once the fog lifts, dyslexics are prone to genius. Because theirs is such a unique way of looking at reality." Victor Villasenor "Don't be afraid to dream big. Concentrate on all that is possible and go for it. Who knows where those dreams will take you." Debbie Macomber "For me, dyslexia is not a disability. The unique strengths and characteristics of dyslexia allow me to think "outside the box". Until I was taught the Orton Gillingham approach, I did not have the basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills necessary for success." Peter W. D. Wright
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