Quotes By Marlee Matlin

I live my life like everyone else; everyone has their own obstacles. Mine is deafness.

When it comes down to it, it's about who you know, and who's a fan. It's about whether you're the right age, whether you're hot or not, whether the studio is into you or not.

I've always wanted to write a book relating my experiences growing up as a deaf child in Chicago. Contrary to what people might think, it wasn't all about hearing aids and speech classes or frustrations.

As a kid, during the school year, my head was often buried in a textbook or Judy Blume book; the words and pictures were the perfect, barrier-free environment for me.

Living modestly in a suburban neighborhood while trying to support four children through private school is not extravagant or living large.

I listen to Billy Joel. He is fabulous. I saw him with Elton John when they toured together, it was so great.

I'm different, and my manner invites questions. I'm never afraid to answer.

My family is healthy and happy.

The handicap of deafness is not in the ear; it is in the mind.

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, and in spite of what most people might have expected from a young girl growing up deaf, life for me was like one long episode of 'The Brady Bunch.' Despite whatever barriers were in my way, I imagined myself as Marcia Brady skating down the street saying 'hi' to everyone, whether they knew me or not.

It was ability that mattered, not disability, which is a word I'm not crazy about using.

I am writing my second novel for children for Simon and Schuster.

The hearing aids are very helpful for speech reading. Without the hearing aids, my voice becomes very loud, and I cannot control the quality of my voice.

I got a good handshake. A lot of executives tell me I have the best handshake in Hollywood.

Silence is the last thing the world will ever hear from me.

I find the mantle of, she works hard for the money, or, she's overcome so many obstacles a bit overused.

What parent has it easy? I just never make the difficulty of it an obstacle. I just do it.

How many deaf people do you know in real life? Unless they live in a cave, or are 14, which seems to be true for most people in this business, what could I possibly tell them that they don't already know?

I was 21 years and 218 days old when I received the Academy Award for Best Actress. I had just stepped into an imaginary world that I'd seen at a distance for years.

Why are people so interested in other people's relationships? It's like stealing.

It seems we're always in transition and that it's more about trends than it is about what's meaningful.

I learned to speak first, and then to sign. I have never really known what it was like to hear, so I can't compare hearing aids to normal hearing.

The best feeling in the world is when you child just comes up to you and lays their head in your lap, for no other reason but just because.

I was the youngest and only girl in a family of two older brothers.

The best feeling in the world is when your child comes up to you and lays their head in your lap, for no other reason but just because. I can't wait to have more.

I can hear you and I can watch your mouth move, and then I put together the sounds and the visual image, and I can understand the words as I integrate the two signals.

At the end of the day, it's about the best interests of the children.

What the Bleep Do We Know was not written with a deaf person in mind, but when they met me, it clicked with them to have me in it. But that happens with a lot of actors in Hollywood, not just with me.

When I was 13, I told Henry Winkler I wanted to act. He said, Do it and don't let anyone stand in your way. His validation just made it all the more true. I haven't stopped thanking him since.

Looking back now, thinking about that moment in the lights, with my heart pounding, Oscar in my hand, all I can say is I am grateful and humbled - still to this day. Next to marrying my husband and the birth of my children, it is one of the best days ever.