“Our scientists are on the threshold of major breakthroughs in almost every disease or condition that now cause so much hardship for people across the country and around the world.”

— Christopher Reeve, Testimony on National Institutes of Health funding, June 5, 1997

About Christopher Reeve

1952 – 2004

American actor and disability-rights activist, best known for playing Superman.

“I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”

“Money spent on research brings practical results that absolutely justify the investment.”

“We must not stop this progress because we are unwilling to commit enough money to get the job done.”

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

“It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?”

“In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught; but in life there are many things to draw us aside.”

“If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces.”

“That which makes the man no worse than he was makes his life no worse: it has no power to harm, without or within.”

“Always take the short cut; and that is the rational one. Therefore say and do everything according to soundest reason.”