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.

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.

…everyone needs a somewhere, a place he can go. There comes a time, you see, inevitably there comes a time you have to have a somewhere you can go!

The most fundamental tragedy of my life is that the ones who I see do not existand the one who exists I do not see.

Don't let the past steal your present. This is the message of Christmas: We are never alone.

This Nation has realized significant environmental improvements over the last three decades.

Vulnerability is not about fear and grief and disappointment; it is the birthplace of everything we're hungry for.

To give Tinker Bell a voice for the first time in history is such an honor.

It's definitely a shock to go from being 15 in high school to working. There's no real cushion there. There's no preparation at all. You learn by doing.

Devils don't come from hell beneath us, they come from the sky.

That would be locking the horse after the stable door is gone, a very foolish thing to do.

I've had more people come up to me about 'Saving Silverman' than anything else. That and 'That Thing You Do!' But 'Saving Silverman' is the one I get most often. And I love that.