“We are made to believe that sensitivity is a crutch, a weakness, a liability—but sensitivity is dangerous. It’s as dangerous as a knife in the dark. It’s as dangerous as a black widow nesting in the mouth of a recently remembered garden glove. It’s as dangerous as a leopard trailing the man with the gun set on killing her. If you are particularly sensitive, do not stifle it. Do not hide it. Do not abandon it. Hone it. Wield it. Learn to control it. Your capacity to feel deeper than those around you will make you a fearsome foe, a devoted friend, a courageous lover, a compassionate human and—if you are in the arts or some neighboring vocation—fantastically rich. If not monetarily, spiritually.”
Cole Schafer
“I have for many years endeavored to make this vital truth clear; and still people marvel when I tell them that I am happy. They imagine that my limitations weigh heavily upon my spirit, and chain me to the rock of despair. Yet, it seems to me, happiness has very little to do with the senses. If we make up our minds that this is a drab and purposeless universe, it will be that, and nothing else. On the other hand, if we believe that the earth is ours, and that the sun and moon hang in the sky for our delight, there will be joy upon the hills and gladness in the fields because the Artist in our souls glorifies creation. Surely, it gives dignity to life to believe that we are born into this world for noble ends, and that we have a higher destiny than can be accomplished within the narrow limits of this physical life.” ~ Helen Keller
“I who am blind can give one hint to those who see: Use your eyes as if tomorrow you would be stricken blind. And the same method can be applied to the other senses. Hear the music of voices, the song of a bird, the mighty strains of an orchestra, as if you would be stricken deaf tomorrow. Touch each object as if tomorrow your tactile sense would fail. Smell the perfume of flowers, taste with relish each morsel, as if tomorrow you could never smell and taste again. Make the most of every sense; glory in the beauty which the world in all the facets of pleasure reveals to you through the several means of contact which Nature provides. But of all the senses, I am sure that sight is the most delightful.” ~ Helen Keller