Deafness Quotes

“Relatedness is vital in a time when so many people suffer from social deafness. Emotional insensitivity being caused by a redoubtable “tin ear” makes it impossible to hear any signs of empathy or capture the vibrant qualities of ‘sharing’. ( "Only needed a light" )”
― Erik Pevernagie

“Art can blow us out of our pigeon hole. In deafness it may shout or scream, in blindness it may arrest our attention, in numbness it may shake up our mind. If we don’t sense anything at all and take everything for granted, art can kick us in the ass, give a conscience and make us aware. (" When is Art? ")”
― Erik Pevernagie

“When we still our mind and stroll through the human landscapes around us, we can see astounding images sneaking from undisclosed places, and hear roaring sounds behind unsuspected walls. If we take the time to listen to the blistering flurry of the silence and look at the inconspicuous specks in our surroundings, our world can turn into an explosion of little wonders. We realize that we finally recognize the things we have overlooked, due to our deafness and blindness. (" Fish for silence. ")”
― Erik Pevernagie

“The many unsuspected little things on our road can strike us in their innocence and cure eye blindness and deafness. They may connect us with the people, and with our selves. The sparkle of every single moment can conjure up promising expectations and new budding of imagination. (" The grass was greener over there ")”
― Erik Pevernagie

“My father spoke with his hands. He was deaf. His voice was in his hands. And his hands contained his memories.”
― Myron Uhlberg, Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love

“If I hadn't lost my hearing, I wouldn't be where I am now. It forced me to maximize my own potential. I have to be better than the average person to succeed.”
― Lou Ferrigno

“Does sound have rhythm? Does it rise and fall like the ocean? Does sound come and go like wind?”
― Myron Uhlberg, Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love

“Old age doth in sharp pains abound;
We are belabored by the gout,
Our blindness is a dark profound,
Our deafness each one laughs about.
Then reason's light with falling ray
Doth but a trembling flicker cast.
Honor to age, ye children pay!
Alas! my fifty years are past!”
― Pierre Jean de Béranger

“It is useful to be reminded of your place, and to recognise just how much you still have to learn, and how much you will never know.”
― Neil Ansell

“Don't ever give up your music, David. It may save your life one day.”
― B. Roman, Before The Boy: The Prequel to The Moon Singer Trilogy

“Misery is optional”
― Libby Lael, Deaf Beneath

“She wasn't a stranger to this line of questioning--when her fellow students at Jefferson had deigned to engage with her, it was often in exchanges like this, to inform her that they had once had a deaf dog, or inquire why she didn't want to get cured like those babies they'd seen on YouTube hearing their mothers' voices for the first time.”
― Sara Nović, True Biz

“Believe it or not, my hearing loss does not have me in a constant state of FOMO (fear of missing out). JOMO, the joy of missing out,
is a better description.”
― Tiffany Storrs, Adaptability: A True Story About Transforming Pain Into Purpose

“Heavy are the hands that bear the signs.”
― Mickey Carolan, Mom Dad Not Hear: 30 Powerful Stories and Lessons about Leadership, Life, and Love from My Deaf Parents

“Apparently, my first book of poetry has been read, faster than 14 years but the silent listener dreamed for longer than 21 years.”
― Petra Hermans

“Too many places didn't want to hire her, claiming her lack of hearing was a liability that would put an unfair burden on their insurance. Never mind that she traveled with a submersible designed to her parameters, signaling all alarms and issues with flashing lights and pressure changes in the fabric of her seat; they were uncomfortable about the idea of working with a deaf woman, and while the Americans with Disabilities Act made it harder for them to refuse her employment, it didn't make it impossible. There would always be lawyers who specialize in keeping the disabled out of the workforce, especially when the jobs they wanted to do - the jobs they were trained to do - were difficult or dangerous or otherwise complex.”
― Mira Grant, Into the Drowning Deep

“Silence should never be spoken in truth.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“HARSH WORDS
Whad'ya say that for?
You want me to go deaf?”
― Chocolate Waters, To the Man Reporter from the Denver Post

“Human ‘senses’ have a hierarchy as far as loss, and taste and smell rarely made the news or a made-for-TV movie. Most people are terrified of losing sight or going deaf. Losing the ability to touch is a horrible part of paralysis. But smell and taste? Not newsworthy.”
― Susan Kraus, When We Lost Touch

“A snapshot memory, circa 1955:
I'm draped over Dad's shoulder, bouncing along in time with his stride. It's a hot day and we're strolling through a fairground. Beside us, Verna clings to Mom's hand. A cob of corn has slipped from my sweaty clutches, and I'm shrieking at full lung capacity to have it retrieved. Bobbing over Dad's shoulder, I can see that tasty morsel - sticky with grit, no doubt - receding into the distance, and I'm furious.

My parents, facing the other direction, are oblivious to my rising howls of protest. Big sister ignores me. Curious onlookers wander by, but I'm not at all self-conscious. I want that cob of corn, and I want it now! Nothing else matters...

I learned soon enough that my parents would never react to my verbal outbursts unless they were facing me. If they couldn't see my face, it didn't count. I'm not sure when that realization dawned, but I know it was early. I recall, as a small child, running into another room to tug on Mom's arm. I knew instinctively that shouting would be useless.

From my infancy, the deaf-hearing dynamic shaped every part of our mother-child communication. Specifics elude me; I only knew that I understood her, and she understood me. Most likely, we used a blend of speaking, signs, and gestures. If I had to describe it, I'd call it mother-talk, that intimate connection that happens between mothers and their offspring. You know how they just understand each other? Well, that's how it was, with us.

Excerpt from Patricia Conrad's Gentle into the Darkness, p. 68”
― Patricia Conrad, Gentle into the Darkness: A Deaf Mother's Journey into Alzheimer's

“She listened -- and that's the best advice I ever got about grief.”
― Michael C. Haymes

“Deafness doesn't need to listen to anyone.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“What if sign language was just as mainstream in education as any other language?”
― Tiffany Storrs, Adaptability: A True Story About Transforming Pain Into Purpose

“When I climb into bed at night and remove my cochlear implants my entire world stops moving. It is in these quiet moments with myself at night that I find restoration.”
― Tiffany Storrs, Adaptability: A True Story About Transforming Pain Into Purpose

“When you see life’s unexpected events as divine teachers, you begin to notice the blessings and the miracles hidden inside each setback.”
― Tiffany Storrs, Adaptability: A True Story About Transforming Pain Into Purpose

“God kept me on this Earth so that I could be a light for Him, a warrior, a source of inspiration for people struggling. He also equipped me to be a bridge between the hearing and deaf communities.”
― Tiffany Storrs, Adaptability: A True Story About Transforming Pain Into Purpose

“And he said...

...hear not the cackle in one's own voice.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“The English language is perniciously ableist. We speak in metaphor that constantly puts down disabled bodies, with phrases like" turning a blind eye "and" it fell on deaf ears "falling from our lips so easily. People often tell me it's not that big of a deal. But, of course, if you've been listening to your language make you sound stupid, ignorant, and useless for your entire life, when you've made a profession out of the craft of language, you cannot help but find pain in the ways that language cuts you to the quick.

ASL has its own barbs. All languages do. But English is troublingly ableist. (Page 42)”
― Elsa Sjunneson, Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman's Fight to End Ableism

“Did you know that Helen Keller created her own form of sign language to communicate with her family? (Page 32)”
― Elsa Sjunneson, Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman's Fight to End Ableism

“Most Deaf kids have home signs; they develop their own ways to get what they need. I have my own, too. My colleagues in the science fiction world who sign can get my attention, can communicate with me if they really need to. A lot of the signs we use aren't" real, "but they're the ones I use, and that's why we use them together. (Page 33)”
― Elsa Sjunneson, Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman's Fight to End Ableism