Blog

My mother gave me this beautiful book as a present. After reading this my heart was filled with newfound motivation and gratefulness. This autobiography was written by Helen, who is both blind and deaf, is extremely inspirational. Her journey of understanding the world, learning words, to sentences, to abstract concepts, to multiple languages such as German, Latin and mathematics. The excruciating difficulties she had to face to break through difficult education and examination systems to endlessly pursue her quest for knowledge, is heavily inspiring.

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it."

"Knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge — broad, deep knowledge — is to know true ends from false, and lofty things from low."

"For, after all, every one who wishes to gain true knowledge must climb the Hill Difficulty alone, and since there is no royal road to the summit, I must zigzag it in my own way. I slip back many times, I fall, I stand still, I run against the edge of hidden obstacles, I lose my temper and find it again and keep it better. I trudge on, I gain a little, I feel encouraged, I get more eager and climb higher and begin to see the widening horizon."

I believe it has been a long time since I have learnt something challenging, perhaps because no one forces me to nor is there any compulsion. Helen inspires me to face the difficulties, to seek knowledge and learn, and most importantly recognize the greatest treasures that I possess — my sight, my sense of hearing — all to absorb in multitudes.