All the scientists who are working on solving the problem of curing paralysis say that it won't do you any good if you don't keep your body in shape.
— Christopher Reeve
Some people are walking around with full use of their bodies and they're more paralyzed than I am.
I have more awareness of other people and, I hope, more sensitivity to their needs. I also find that I'm more direct and outspoken.
I did my first apprenticeship when I was 15, then joined the union when I was 17. I worked every summer in high school and college.
My father is an intellectual and physical man, which is a rather unusual combination. He's great. As he brought up me and my brothers and sisters, he ingrained in us that your appearance is not your responsibility, other than that you should not be a slob.
I've still never had a dream that I'm disabled. Never.
I am a very lucky guy. I can testify before Congress. I can raise funds. I can raise awareness.
To be able to feel the lightest touch really is a gift.
Either you decide to stay in the shallow end of the pool or you go out in the ocean.
A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
A hero is someone who, in spite of weakness, doubt or not always knowing the answers, goes ahead and overcomes anyway.
Success is finding satisfaction in giving a little more than you take.
Never accept ultimatums, conventional wisdom, or absolutes.
It's important to me to say what I really mean.
It never occurred to me that I was a leading man until I was 19 years old. I had been acting since I was 10, so that's nine years and 30 or 40 plays, in school and summer stock, professional theater, too.
It's defeatist to harp on what might have been, and yet, it's hard to resist considering what might have been.
I learned years ago to come to terms with having so much done for me by others.
You've got to give more than you take.
We live in a time when the words impossible and unsolvable are no longer part of the scientific community's vocabulary. Each day we move closer to trials that will not just minimize the symptoms of disease and injury but eliminate them.
At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable.
Don't give up. Don't lose hope. Don't sell out.
We have a government that, generally speaking, does not respond to the people.
I am optimistic. But I also know that, with time, I'm beginning to fight issues of aging as well as long-term paralysis.
Your body is not who you are. The mind and spirit transcend the body.
You should take some responsibility for the way you present yourself. But you should not be hung up on your looks, whether you are ugly or handsome, because it isn't an achievement.
I never said I will stand, I said I hoped to stand. It wasn't a prediction.
What makes Superman a hero is not that he has power, but that he has the wisdom and the maturity to use the power wisely. From an acting point of view, that's how I approached the part.
You play the hand you're dealt. I think the game's worthwhile.
I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
Even though I don't personally believe in the Lord, I try to behave as though He was watching.
So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.
