Don't understand two quotes, helen keller?

Question

There are two famous quotes from helen keller that i cannot understand. one is just straightout confusing. see if you can help me.

1. "All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming." -

-- Helen keller

2. "I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do." -

-- Helen keller

Answer 1

1.  The first one means that even though many people in the world endure some sort of challenges or suffering in their lives, the world is also full of people who rise to the occasion and meet and overcome those challenges;

2.  The second one means even one person can make a difference, and even if that one person is not skilled at everything they should strive to accomplish the things they can.  For example, maybe they are not good at cooking, sewing, singing, etc., but they are excellent at knitting, so they can do something positive with that and make gloves for homeless people.  Make the most of what you skill/skills you have.

Answer 2

Well, I will explain the first one. I am 50 years old and I can tell you that life is full of suffering from heart break to heartbreak. A month ago my Daddy died and it was the worst heart break of all to lose my Daddy. Yet, we survive and overcome these heartbreaks in life. Something inside us helps us to survive and overcome.

Answer 3

The first quote you have posted is my ABSOLUTE favorite quote ever.  Here is the original quote:

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it."  -Helen Keller

  It means that while there is a lot of suffering in the world, there is also a lot of suffering people that are finding ways to overcome it.  It is a quote about hope and empowerment.  It is saying that there is always the option of overcoming (i.e., getting past, recovering from) suffering, especially when we have the help of others, which reminds me of another quote by Helen Keller:

"Alone we can do so little.  Together we can do so much."

The second quote is also very powerful and deals with hope and empowerment as well.  It means that even one person can make a difference by choosing to do what they CAN do...rather than being overwhelmed by not being able to do everything and deciding not to do anything at all.  Although we may wish we can do everything, we, as individuals, cannot; therefore, we should choose to do what we CAN, because everyone can do something.  We can still have an affect.