Helen Keller
American deaf-blind writer
WORDS ABOUT WORDS
Someone was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed on the motion of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten — a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that "w-a-t-e-r" meant that wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free!
—Helen Keller, American deaf-blind writer, The Story of My Life, 1902
Posted on February 17, 2004 at 7:23 AM
WORDS ABOUT WORDS
Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourse of my book-friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness.
—Helen Keller, American deaf-blind writer, The Story of My Life, 1902
Posted on June 10, 2003 at 6:12 AM
|
