You can do anything if you set your mind to it. Look out for

In the radiant words of Marlee Matlin, the deaf actress who became a voice for millions, we are reminded of the boundless power that lies within the human spirit: “You can do anything if you set your mind to it. Look out for kids, help them dream and be inspired. We teach calculus in schools, but I believe the most important formula is courage plus dreams equals success.” These words are not mere sentiment—they are a creed born from experience, from a life that has defied limitation and turned adversity into triumph. Matlin, who lost her hearing as a child yet rose to the highest stage of artistic achievement, speaks as one who knows that success does not spring from privilege or chance, but from courage, dreams, and the will to endure.

In her life, the world told her “no” countless times. They said that the deaf could not act, could not perform, could not speak to the soul of an audience. But she carried within her a greater truth—that the human spirit does not need sound to create music, nor hearing to tell a story that moves hearts. When she won the Academy Award for Best Actress at the age of twenty-one, it was not only her victory but a victory for all who had ever been silenced or doubted. From that moment, her life became a living testament to the formula she later spoke of: courage plus dreams equals success. For courage alone endures, and dreams alone inspire—but together, they forge destiny.

The ancients would have called this a divine alchemy—the blending of heart and vision that gives rise to greatness. Courage, they taught, is the armor of the soul, the power to rise each time life strikes you down. Dreams, they said, are the breath of creation, the whispers of eternity calling each person toward their purpose. To unite these two is to harness the very fire of the gods. The heroes of old, from Odysseus to Joan of Arc, walked the same path that Matlin describes. Their victories were not handed to them by fate—they were earned through struggle, through the marriage of daring and vision.

Think of Thomas Edison, whose countless failures lit the path to the first electric light. Or Helen Keller, deaf and blind, yet a torchbearer for all who sought to see and hear through the spirit. These were people who understood, as Matlin does, that success is not a reward of the fortunate but the achievement of the determined. They did not wait for the world to open its doors—they built their own. Each of them proved that dreams without courage fade, and courage without dreams wanders; but together, they move mountains.

And yet, Matlin’s wisdom does not end in self-achievement—it turns outward, toward the children, the seeds of tomorrow. “Look out for kids, help them dream and be inspired,” she says. In this, she reminds us that the greatest duty of those who have walked the path of triumph is to light the way for those who come after. The ancient teachers knew this truth well: the warrior’s greatest honor was not in his own glory, but in teaching the young to bear the sword of virtue. To guide a child’s dreams, to nurture their courage—this is to build the foundation of a greater world.

Her words also carry a subtle rebuke to the modern mind. “We teach calculus in schools,” she says, “but the most important formula is courage plus dreams equals success.” Knowledge is vital, but without heart it is hollow. A mind trained in numbers but empty of wonder will build machines but not miracles. The ancients believed education must shape not only intellect, but character and spirit. Matlin calls us back to this truth—that the formulas of life are not written on chalkboards, but in the soul: believe, dare, persevere.

So let this be the lesson handed down through ages yet to come: Success does not bloom in comfort; it grows from the soil of struggle, watered by courage and fed by dreams. When you fall, rise. When the world doubts you, let your heart answer louder. And when you reach your summit, turn back to lift another. For courage without compassion is pride, and dreams without service are empty.

And remember, always, the wisdom of Marlee Matlin—the woman who turned silence into song: “You can do anything if you set your mind to it.” The world’s true heroes are not those who never face fear, but those who, in spite of fear, walk forward. Be brave enough to dream, and bold enough to pursue it. For in the sacred formula of life—courage plus dreams equals success—you will find not only triumph, but the truest measure of the human spirit.