海倫凱勒 （Helen Keller，1880-1968） 在自傳「我的生命故事」（Story of My Life）中寫到一八八七年三月三日是她一生中最重要的日子，因為安娜沙利文老師來到她家，她差三個月就滿七歲。

那天下午從母親的舉止及屋內的騷動，我覺得有些不尋常。我內心有股強烈的痛苦與憤怒讓我很疲憊。你是否曾在大海中被濃霧籠罩，船在白茫茫的黑暗裡摸索，你心跳加速不知船能否安全靠岸？在沙利文老師教我之前，我就像這艘船，我沒有羅盤也無從得知離港口多近。我的心靈發出無聲的吶喊：「給我光吧！」這道愛的光此刻照射過來了。

Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass and had no way of knowing how near the harbor was. "Light! Give me light!" was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.

第二天，老師送我一個陶娃娃，一邊在我手中拼出字母"d-o-l-l"，她的手指頭好像在玩遊戲很有趣，我像猴子般跟著模仿，卻不知道這是字母，也不知道有單字的存在，更也不明白每件物品都有名稱。有一天，老師教我「杯」和「水」兩個字，我一直弄錯，老師不停地糾正我。我把陶娃娃拿在手上玩，老師把我的舊布娃娃放在我腿上，在我手上拼出"d-o-l-l"讓我瞭解這兩個都叫"d-o-l-l"，這時我已經很不耐煩，把陶娃娃用力往地上丟，碎片落在我腳邊，老師默默地把碎片掃到壁爐邊。情緒爆發完，我不難過也不後悔反而很開心，在我黑暗靜寂的內心世界，我沒有愛也沒有溫柔。

I became impatient at her repeated attempts and , seizing the new doll, I dashed it upon the floor. I was keenly delighted when I felt the fragments of the broken doll at my feet. Neither sorrow nor regret followed my passionate outburst. I had not loved the doll. In the still, dark world in which I lived there was no particular feeling of tenderness.

老師帶我前往井邊，把我的手放在出水孔，冰冷的水流在我手上，老師在我的另一隻手上拼出「水」"w-a-t-e-r"。我全神貫注感覺她的手指在移動，剎那間，我意識到原來這就是文字，真是神奇！流在我手上這沁涼美妙的東西就叫做"w-a-t-e-r"。文字和生活連結起來，我的心靈也頓時甦醒過來，我有了光明、希望和喜悅，我的心自由了。回家後，我想起摔破的陶娃娃再也拚不回原狀，心中第一次感到後悔和傷心，眼睛充滿了淚水。

I know then that "w-a-t-e-r" meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, and set it free! On entering the door I remembered the doll I had broken. I felt my way to the hearth and picked up the pieces. I tried vainly to put them together. Then my eyes filled with tears; for I realized what I had done, and for the first time I felt repentance and sorrow.