I'm not an advocate for disability issues. Human issues are what interest me. You can't possibly speak for a diverse group of people. I don't know what it's like to be an arm amputee, or have even one flesh-and-bone leg, or to have cerebral palsy.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the idea that individual experiences and issues vary greatly among people, making it impossible to fully represent or advocate for all disabilities equally.
Aimee Mullins expresses her belief that instead of focusing solely on disability issues, one should acknowledge the broader spectrum of human experiences and challenges. She highlights the limitations of understanding others' struggles, as each person's circumstances are unique, emphasizing a more inclusive approach to human concerns rather than narrow advocacy based on category or label.
In practice
This quote could be used during a panel discussion on disability and inclusion to highlight the importance of understanding individual experiences.
I've had journalists asking me, 'What do we call you - is it handicapped, are you disabled, physically challenged?' I said, 'Well hopefully you could just call me Aimee. But if you have to describe it, I'm a bilateral below-the-knee amputee.'
An athlete experiences the emotions of pain and elation through triumph and defeat, through teamwork and individuality, as nothing more than a human being...that is the true glory of sport.
I think that everyone has something about themselves that they feel is their weakness... their 'disability.' And I'm certain we all have one, because I think of a disability as being anything which undermines our belief and confidence in our own abilities.
I have learned not to overlook the advantages of being me. From when I was a softball player, and I held the stolen bases record. I would slide into second with my prostheses, and the girl on the base could either step aside or meet two wooden sticks.
In sports, I refused to do any interviews that were just going to become human-interest stories. Don't turn me into a tragic heroine.
I'm not an advocate for disability issues. Human issues are what interest me.
Nothing is yours. It is to use. It is to share. If you will not share it, you cannot use it.
I believe everyone should have a good death. You know, with your grandchildren around you, a bit of sobbing. Because after all, tears are appropriate on a death bed. And you say goodbye to your loved ones, making certain that one of them has been left behind to look after the shop.
When a Benefit is wrongly conferred, the author of the Benefit may often be said to injure.
Cats and monkeys; monkeys and cats; all human life is there.
Theories that go counter to the facts of human nature are foredoomed.
If God is Love, He is, by definition, something more than mere kindness. And it appears, from all the records, that though He has often rebuked us and condemned us, He has never regarded us with contempt. He has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense.
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