You found our list of the best disability awareness quotes.
Disability awareness quotes are sayings that speak to the adversity people with disabilities face in the modern world, as well as the potential for professional success these individuals possess. One example is “Know me for my abilities, not my disability.” – Robert M. Hensel. The purpose of these quotes is to promote awareness, equality, and empowerment for professionals with physical or mental conditions.
The quotes can be a way to observe National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which happens in October. These sayings are a type of motivational work quote and are similar to HR quotes and quotes about hard work.
This article includes:
- quotes about disability inclusion
- disability pride quotes
- inspirational disability quotes
- “disability is not an obstacle for success” quotes
Here is the list!
Quotes about disability inclusion
- “We must be treated as equals – and communication is the way we can bring this about.” – Louis Braille
- “Recognizing and respecting differences in others, and treating everyone like you want them to treat you, will help make our world a better place for everyone. Care… be your best. You don’t have to be handicapped to be different. Everyone is different!” – Kim Peek
- “If I have to feel thankful about an accessible bathroom, when am I ever gonna be equal in the community?” – Judith Huemann
- “The ADA was a wonderful achievement. But it was only the tip of the iceberg. You can pass a law but until you can change society’s attitudes, that law won’t mean much.” – Denise Sherer Jacobson
- “Part of the problem is that we tend to think that equality is about treating everyone the same, when it’s not. It’s about fairness. It’s about equity of access.” – Judith Heumann
- “I wanted to be part of the world, but I didn’t see anyone like me in it.” – Jim LeBrecht
- “It is so important to showcase people with disabilities with intersectional identities because that allows viewers to see beyond disability….People with disabilities are multilayered—we are complex breathing human beings defined by more than just what we lack.” – Lauren Ridloff
- “There is no greater disability in society, than the inability to see a person as more.” – Robert M. Hensel
- “My disability exists not because I use a wheelchair, but because the broader environment isn’t accessible” – Stella Young
- “Every person with disability is an individual” – Itzhak Perlman
- “If we are to achieve a richer culture, we must weave one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.” – Margaret Meade
- “I wish for a world that views disability, mental or physical, not as a hindrance but as unique attributes that can be seen as powerful assets if given the right opportunities” – Oliver Sacks
- “We need to make every single thing accessible to every single person with a disability.” – Stevie Wonder
- “Accessibility allows us to tap into everyone’s potential.” – Debra Ruh
Check out this list of books on diversity and inclusion.
Disability pride quotes
- “Silence is the last thing the world will ever hear from me.” – Marlee Matlin
- “My effort in the whole thing was the basic determination, the burning desire in me to prove to this world that a physically handicapped girl is in no way inferior.” – Sudha Chandran
- “I wanna see a feisty group of disabled people around the world…if you don’t respect yourself and if you don’t demand what you believe in for yourself, you’re not gonna get it.” – Judith Heumann
- “Ask many of us who are disabled what we would like in life and you would be surprised how few would say, ‘Not to be disabled.’ We accept our limitations.” – Itzhak Perlman
- “We have the can-do factor, and us doing what we do inspires people to just try that little bit harder, whether they are able-bodied or disabled.” – Lee Pearson
- “This is my life and I absolutely love it. I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’ve done things that other people couldn’t dream of.” – Jonnie Peacock
- “Abled does not mean enabled. Disabled does not mean less abled” – Khang Kijarro Nguyen
- “Disability cannot stop me from becoming a complete personality” – Samyak Lalit
- “The world worries about disability more than disabled people do” – Warwick Davis
- “Know me for my abilities, not my disability.” – Robert M. Hensel
- “If the world thinks you’re not good enough, it’s a lie, you know. Get a second opinion.” – Nick Vujicic
- “I am different, not less.” – Dr. Temple Grandin
Inspirational disability quotes
- “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” – Christopher Reeve
- “Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.” – Helen Keller
- “At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.” – Frida Kahlo
- “Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn’t mean he lacks vision.” – Stevie Wonder
- “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.” – Ralph Braun
- “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” – Muhammad Ali
- “In life, just find something you love and make it your life. That is the only way to be successful. Love what you do.” – Hannah Cockcroft
- “Everything is going to work out – there’s no other option.” – Kari Miller
- “There is a plan and a purpose, a value to every life, no matter what its location, age, gender or disability” – Sharron Angle
- “However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Disability doesn’t make you exceptional, but questioning what you think you know about it does” – Stella Young
- “I don’t need easy. I just need possible.” – Bethany Hamilton
“Disability is not an obstacle for success” quotes
- “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” – Lou Holtz
- “My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit as well as physically.” – Stephen Hawking
- “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” – Scott Hamilton
- “Acceptance doesn’t mean resignation; it means understanding that something is what it is and that there’s got to be a way through it.” – Michael J. Fox
- “Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “I can see there’s a connection between not following normal thinking and doing creative thinking. I wouldn’t have had good scientific ideas if I had thought more normally.” – John Forbes Nash, Jr.
- “Know your limits, but never stop trying to break them.” – Kyle Maynard
- “The biggest barriers I’ve faced have been from people who make assumptions about what I can’t do, who assume that because I’m in a wheelchair I can’t be an athlete or I won’t be competitive. That’s ok because I’m focused, single-minded and good at blocking those people.” – Tanni Grey-Thompson
- “Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one thing well, you’re needed by someone.” – Martina Navratilova
- “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.” – Nido Qubein
- “Disability is natural. We must stop believing that disabilities keep a person from doing something. Because that’s not true… Having a disability doesn’t stop me from doing anything.” – Benjamin Snow
Check out more quotes about success.
Final Thoughts
Disability awareness quotes can be an effective way to communicate the power and potential of disabled workers. The best phrase to share at work during National Disability Employment Awareness month avoid condescending or patronizing tones and treat subjects as humans. Many of these statements were spoken by high-achieving individuals with disabilities and can serve as an example of the feats folks can accomplish despite physical or mental adversity.
Quotes are one of the simplest ways to observe the occasion since you can include the sayings in meetings, presentations, and emails. However, you can and should share these sentiments year round in the office, and practice what you preach by supporting worker differences and creating inclusive and accessible workplaces.
Next, check out these lists of quotes about success and quotes about job satisfaction.
We also have a list of Mental Health Awareness Month quotes.
Angela Robinson
