44+ Marlee Matlin Quotes On Being Deaf, Empowering And Inspiring

Marlee Matlin is an American actress who is deaf. She is the only deaf performer to win an Academy Award for her role in the 1986 film Children of a Lesser God. She has since gone on to appear in other films and television shows, including The West Wing and Switched at Birth. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Marlee Matlin on being deaf, empowering, inspiring.

Top 10 Marlee Matlin Quotes

1. 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.
2. Deaf people can do anything, except hear.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. It was ability that mattered, not disability, which is a word I'm not crazy about using.
6. I got a good handshake. A lot of executives tell me I have the best handshake in Hollywood.
7. I have made the choices that work best for me. I know I cannot please everyone, and that's fine.
8. When I learned to sign and speak at the same time, the whole world opened up to me. That's the beauty of encouraging kids who are deaf to use whatever it takes to communicate.
9. Watch me when people say deaf and dumb, or deaf mute, and I give them a look like you might get if you called Denzel Washington the wrong name.
10. I find the mantle of, she works hard for the money, or, she's overcome so many obstacles a bit overused.

Marlee Matlin Short Quotes

• What parent has it easy? I just never make the difficulty of it an obstacle. I just do it.
• Everybody's got a job to do, and I do mine as best I can.
• I was the youngest and only girl in a family of two older brothers.
• I'm different, and my manner invites questions. I'm never afraid to answer.
• I have always resisted putting limitations on myself, both professionally and personally.

Marlee Matlin Quotes About Being Deaf

I'm not really deaf; I just faked it to win the Oscar KIDDING. — Marlee Matlin

Im in my mid-30s, Ive won an Oscar, I have four children. You figure out if my deafness has adversely affected my life. — Marlee Matlin

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. — Marlee Matlin

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? — Marlee Matlin

At some point we have to stop and say, There's Marlee, not, There's the deaf actress. — Marlee Matlin

I'm the only one in my family who is deaf, and there are still conversations that go around me that I miss out on. And I ask what's going on, and I have to ask to be included. But I'm not going to be sad about it. I don't live in sad isolation. It's just a situation I'm used to. — Marlee Matlin

The only thing I can't do is hear. I can drive, I have a life with four kids, I work on TV, I do movies, so the deafness question, is it that they want to know because, what? Not sure. — Marlee Matlin

I hope I inspire people who hear. Hearing people have the ability to remove barriers that prevent deaf people from achieving their dreams. — Marlee Matlin

During a visit to California, when a friend of my grandmother's told my parents that I must be deaf because I was not responding to sounds, my father was absolutely convinced that I was simply being stubborn. — Marlee Matlin

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. — Marlee Matlin

Marlee Matlin Quotes About Aids

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. — Marlee Matlin

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. — Marlee Matlin

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. — Marlee Matlin

Marlee Matlin Famous Quotes And Sayings

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. — Marlee Matlin

I'm a proud person who happens to be deaf. I don't want to change it. I don't want to wake up and suddenly say, 'Oh my God, I can hear.' That's not my dream. It's not my dream. I've been raised deaf. I'm used to the way I am. I don't want to change it. Why would I ever want to change? Because I'm used to this, I'm happy. — Marlee Matlin

All I can say is I've been reading the lips of bleeped-out words, angry baseball players, and stoned-out rock stars on awards shows for years and it's been hilarious. Everyone is always asking me what the bleeped-out parts are saying. — 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. — Marlee Matlin

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. — Marlee Matlin

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

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. — Marlee Matlin

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

There is nothing better than being a parent. It is the most challenging job one could ever ask for. I love being a mom and I love being a friend to my children as well. — Marlee Matlin

Hollywood embraced me in the late '80s because there was a good project I was in and it was different. Nowadays, it's about corporate mentality, box office, youth. — Marlee Matlin

There are many deaf people who couldn't imagine living in a marriage without someone who doesn't speak their language. For me, I believe that hearing or deaf is fine as long as both parties are willing to communicate in each other's language. But if there's no communication, then the marriage, I believe, will be difficult if not doomed. — Marlee Matlin

We had a dog, Apples. He was 13 years old, toothless, blind and had the worst breath this side of Jabba the Hut. But he was the sweetest dog, and I cried and cried when he died. — Marlee Matlin

I am grateful for each and every food bank that helps families in need. Now, more than ever, hunger is a crisis in America, and yet it is not spoken enough and people have yet to give enough to help those in need. Local food banks help fill this need but they need our help, our support, and most importantly, our dollars. No one should ever go hungry. — Marlee Matlin

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. — Marlee Matlin

Differences are scarier now. The dollar isn't so guaranteed if you don't follow what they see as the norm. But I don't moan about it. I just keep working. — Marlee Matlin

You can do anything if you set your mind to it. Look out for kids, help them dream and be inspired. We teach calculus in schools, but I believe the most important formula is courage plus dreams equals success. — Marlee Matlin

Life Lessons by Marlee Matlin

1. Marlee Matlin has taught us that no matter what obstacles you face, you can still achieve your dreams and make a difference in the world.
2. She has shown us that being deaf does not mean that you cannot be successful and that you can still make a positive contribution to society.
3. Marlee Matlin has demonstrated that with hard work and determination, anything is possible.