- I considered promises that limit our freedom to be extreme. It’s not that I disapproved of laws that help people with weak resolve stay committed to good causes through vows and contracts, or laws that secure commerce with similar commitments for neutral purposes. However, since nothing on earth is completely unchangeable, and I hoped to gradually improve my judgments, I thought it would be foolish to bind myself to something I approved of at one time, only to find it no longer good or valuable later. This would go against common sense, as it would prevent me from adapting my beliefs as circumstances changed or as my understanding improved.
- Helen Keller (Wikipedia)
Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when she was 19 months old. She then communicated primarily using home signs until the age of seven, when she met her first teacher and life-long companion Anne Sullivan. Sullivan taught Keller language, including reading and writing. After an education at both specialist and mainstream schools, Keller attended Radcliffe College of Harvard University and became the first deafblind person in the United States to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.