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Words of Wisdom

Helen Keller: “When One Door of Happiness Closes, Another Opens”

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” 

Helen Keller (1880-1968) is best known as the deaf-blind girl introduced to communication by teacher Anne Sullivan, a story immortalized in the play The Miracle Worker, as well as its film adaptation. Most people are unaware of Keller’s later accomplishments in life. She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor’s degree. She became a prolific writer and political activist who campaigned for women’s suffrage, labor rights, and various socialist causes — all without the ability to see, hear, or speak clearly. Keller was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, elected to the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and posthumously honored with a statue in the United States Capitol.


“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” [Wikiquote]

From We Bereaved (1929)


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