I am conscious of a soul-sense that lifts me above the narrow, cramping circumstances of my life. My physical limitations are forgotten- my world lies upward, the length and the breadth and the sweep of the heavens are mine!

Helen Keller
About This Quote

The quote above was written by Henry David Thoreau, one of the most important philosophers in history. He was living in his cabin on Walden Pond when he wrote the words above. The “world lies upward” is referring to the fact that everyone has something inside them that they can live up to. The world will never be perfect for any person, but if you keep pushing forward with your life, you can make it better.

Source: The Story Of My Life: With Her Letters (1887 1901) And A Supplementary Account Of Her Education Including Passages From The Reports And Letters Of Her Teacher Anne Mansfield Sullivan By John Albert Macy

Some Similar Quotes
  1. I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon woman's inconstancy. Songs and proverbs, all talk of woman's fickleness. But perhaps you will say, these were all written by men."" Perhaps I shall. Yes, yes,... - Jane Austen

  2. What it means to be human is to bring up your children in safety, educate them, keep them healthy, teach them how to care for themselves and others, allow them to develop in their own way among adults who are sane and responsibile, who know... - Jeanette Winterson

  3. The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know. - Michel Legrand

  4. Cinema is the ultimate pervert art. It doesn't give you what you desire - it tells you how to desire. - Unknown

  5. Being vegan is easy. Are there social pressures that encourage you to continue to eat, wear, and use animal products? Of course there are. But in a patriarchal, racist, homophobic, and ableist society, there are social pressures to participate and engage in sexism, racism, homophobia,... - Gary L. Francione

More Quotes By Helen Keller
  1. I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power...

  2. Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of Liberty.

  3. Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time, who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done, if we are always doing.

  4. The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.

  5. There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people.

Related Topics