Marlee Matlin Quotes

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.

Deaf people can do anything, except hear.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

I have always resisted putting limitations on myself, both professionally and personally.

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 learned to speak first, and then to sign. I have never really known what it was like to hear, so I cant compare hearing aids to normal hearing.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

I guess not being able to hear just made me adventurous and daring. And in most cases, that didn't make my parents very happy with me.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Everybody's got a job to do, and I do mine as best I can.

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

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

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

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.

When you're up for an award at the Oscars, try as you might, it's hard to concentrate on the show.

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

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

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

I want roles without anger and feistiness. I want to show weakness and sadness, some love, some happiness.