Christopher Reeve Quotes

A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.

Once you choose hope, anything's possible

At some time, often when we least expect it, we all have to face overwhelming challenges. When the unthinkable happens, the lighthouse is hope. Once we find it, we must cling to it with absolute determination. When we have hope, we discover powers within ourselves we may have never known- the power to make sacrifices, to endure, to heal, and to love. Once we choose hope, everything is possible.

Don't give up. Don't lose hope. Don't sell out.

Either you decide to stay in the shallow end of the pool or you go out in the ocean.

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.

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.

Misfortune can force you into doing things you should be doing anyway. Lessons come from adversity. Anything can happen to anyone... You can find a new lease on life - more meaning than you thought possible in simple things... Let go. Live in the moment. Go forward.

I'm not living the life I thought I would lead, but it does have meaning, purpose. There is love... there is joy... there is laughter.

Never accept ultimatums, conventional wisdom, or absolutes.

The key to success is letting the relationships in your life grow to the highest levels they possibly can . . . not putting yourself first in life and remembering that the more you give away, the more you have.

In the face of adversity, hope often comes in the form of a friend who reaches out to us.

When the first Superman movie came out, I gave dozens of interviews to promote it. The most frequent question was: What is a hero? My answer was that a hero is someone who commits a courageous action without considering the consequences. Now my definition is completely different. I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.

We can either watch life from the sidelines, or actively participate... Either we let self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy prevent us from realising our potential, or embrace the fact that when we turn our attention away from ourselves, our potential is limitless.

A hero is someone who, in spite of weakness, doubt or not always knowing the answers, goes ahead and overcomes anyway.

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.

You've got to give more than you take.

Success is finding satisfaction in giving a little more than you take.

Some people are walking around with full use of their bodies and they're more paralyzed than I am.

When I first began acting, I assumed an intellectual responsibility attached to my profession, which I had accepted for a long time. My father taught me that an actor had to have a social and political conscience, and that the work that he does has to reflect from that.

Pain is inevitable. Misery is a choice.

Even if your body doesn't work the way it used to, the heart and the mind and the spirit are not diminished.

What I do is based on powers we all have inside us; the ability to endure; the ability to love, to carry on, to make the best of what we have - and you don't have to be a 'Superman' to do it.

Your body is not who you are. The mind and spirit transcend the body.

When we turn our attention away from ourselves, our potential is limitless.

Once we choose hope, everything is possible.

For everyone who thought I couldn’t do it… for everyone who thought I shouldn’t do it… for everyone who said, ‘It’s impossible’… see you at the finish line!

To be able to feel the lightest touch really is a gift.

I think we all have a little voice inside us that will guide us. It may be God, I don't know. But I think that if we shut out all the noise and clutter from our lives and listen to that voice, it will tell us the right thing to do.

I have never been disabled in my dreams.

I remember telling a neurosurgeon, "Don't give me too much information, because at the moment my ignorance is my best asset."

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.

Success is not about money and power. Real success is about relationships. There's no point in making $50 million a year if your teenager thinks you're a jerk and you spend no time with your wife.

Don't put a limit on what can be accomplished.

If you don't have a vision, nothing happens.

Either you vegetate and look out a window, or activate and try to effect change.

You can do anything you think you can.

If we don't dream of the possible, the possible never happens.

You play the hand you're dealt. I think the game's worthwhile.

On the wall of his rehabilitation room was a picture of the space shuttle blasting off, autographed by every astronaut now at NASA. On top of the picture it says, "We found nothing is impossible." That should be our motto.

I am a very lucky guy. I can testify before Congress. I can raise funds. I can raise awareness.

And if you can channel the truth of your own experience onto the stage, that's what the audience wants to see.

It's important to me to say what I really mean.

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 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.

In the second half of the 20th century, people are becoming more limited: Vocabularies are smaller, thoughts are smaller, aspirations are smaller, everything is very scaled down. Everyone is typecast.

Maybe one way I am original is that at heart I really am a classical actor. I haven't had my chance yet in the commercial world to show that. Movies aren't really made about classical people so much any more.

If I can laugh, I can live.

I gradually stopped wondering, ‘What life do I have?' and began to consider, ‘What life can I build?

Even though I don't personally believe in the Lord, I try to behave as though He was watching.