Quotes By Marlee Matlin

Maybe my way of communicating through sign made me more in tune with my body and how it moved. Who knows? I just know when I saw a stage for the first time, I wanted to be on it.

I have made the choices that work best for me. I know I cannot please everyone, and that's fine.

If I were offered a cochlear implant today, I would prefer not to have one. But that's not a statement about hearing aids or cochlear implants. It's about who you are.

I hope that through my example, such as my role on 'The West Wing,' I can help change attitudes on deafness and prove we can really do everything... except hear.

When I was young I knew I was deaf. I couldn't accept it.

I have a great husband, great parents and in-laws, and I have help with a nanny. It's not easy, but there are others who do it every day and don't have a high-profile job as I do.

The Earth does not belong to us: we belong to the Earth.

I've been around since I was 19, I won the Oscar when I was 21, I've had a couple of TV series. I've continued to work despite the predictions of some naysayers.

I'm gonna be unemployed when people read this. Ha.

I'm not broke. Like everybody else, I owe money.

There are so many people, deaf or otherwise abled, who are so talented but overlooked or not given a chance to even get their foot in the door.

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.

Every one of us is different in some way, but for those of us who are more different, we have to put more effort into convincing the less different that we can do the same thing they can, just differently.

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.

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.

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

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.

My family is healthy and happy.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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?

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

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.