Famous Christopher Reeve Quotes
On joining the Unitarian Universalist Association, in an interview with Reader's Digest (October 2004) http://www.adherents.com/people/pr/Christopher_Reeve.html
Context: It gives me a moral compass. I often refer to Abe Lincoln, who said, "When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. And that is my religion." I think we all have a little voice inside us that will guide us. It may be God, I don't know. But I think that if we shut out all the noise and clutter from our lives and listen to that voice, it will tell us the right thing to do. The Unitarian believes that God is good, and believes that God believes that man is good. Inherently. The Unitarian God is not a God of vengeance. And that is something I can appreciate.
Speech at the Democratic National Convention (26 August 1996) http://www.chrisreevehomepage.com/sp-dnc1996.html
Christopher Reeve Quotes
“Superman is nothing more than a popular retelling of the Christ story, or Greek mythology.”
Caught in the Act : New York Actors Face to Face (1986) by Don Shewey and Susan Shacter, p. 18
Context: Superman is nothing more than a popular retelling of the Christ story, or Greek mythology. It's an archetype, watered down and made in vivid colors for twelve-year-old's mentality. It's pop mythology, which extends to the actor, then seeps over to a demand that that actor reflect the needs of the worshipers. The worship doesn't only go on in the temples — it goes on in the streets, and restaurants, in magazines. But, you know, I'm from New Jersey, I'm not from Olympus or Krypton, so back off 'cause I can't take the responsibility.
“The key word for me on him is "inspiration." He is a leader by inspiration. He sets an example.”
On the role of "Superman" in an interview with Gene Siskel (1978), quoted in the "Biography" at Chris Reeve Homepage http://www.chrisreevehomepage.com/biography.html
Context: The key word for me on him is "inspiration." He is a leader by inspiration. He sets an example. It's quite important that people realize that I don't see him as a glad-handing show-off, a one-man vigilante force who rights every wrong. Basically, he's a pacifist, a man who comes along and says, 'What can I do to help?' He stands on the sidelines until there is real trouble. He does not want to get involved unless it's absolutely necessary because he thinks people should learn to make their own decisions.
Testimony http://www.chrisreevehomepage.com/testimony-hor-140499.html to a U.S House of Representatives subcommittee, on NIH funding for the year 2000 (14 April 1999)
Context: We live in a time when the words impossible and unsolvable are no longer part of the scientific community's vocabulary. Each day we move closer to trials that will not just minimize the symptoms of disease and injury but eliminate them.
On the role of "Superman" in an interview with Gene Siskel (1978), quoted in the "Biography" at Chris Reeve Homepage http://www.chrisreevehomepage.com/biography.html
Context: The key word for me on him is "inspiration." He is a leader by inspiration. He sets an example. It's quite important that people realize that I don't see him as a glad-handing show-off, a one-man vigilante force who rights every wrong. Basically, he's a pacifist, a man who comes along and says, 'What can I do to help?' He stands on the sidelines until there is real trouble. He does not want to get involved unless it's absolutely necessary because he thinks people should learn to make their own decisions.
Still Me (1999); also quoted at the Christopher Reeve Foundation http://www.christopherreeve.org/site/c.geIMLPOpGjF/b.1097025/k.6FF5/Christopher_and_Dana_Reeve.htm
Context: When the first Superman movie came out, I gave dozens of interviews to promote it. The most frequent question was: What is a hero? My answer was that a hero is someone who commits a courageous action without considering the consequences. Now my definition is completely different. I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. They are the real heroes, and so are the families and friends who have stood by them.
As quoted at the Christopher Reeve Foundation http://www.christopherreeve.org/site/c.geIMLPOpGjF/b.1097025/k.6FF5/Christopher_and_Dana_Reeve.htm, also in Encyclopedia of Stem Cell Research (2008) by Clive N. Svendsen and Allison D. Ebert, Vol. 1, p. 104
Statement of 1980, as quoted in the "Biography" at Chris Reeve Homepage http://www.chrisreevehomepage.com/biography.html
“I'm starting a new chapter in my life, and you have no idea how much that means.”
At the premiere of his first work as a director, after his injuries of 1995 (1997)
As quoted in Celebrities in Hell (2002) by Warren Allen Smith, p. 98
Source: As quoted I Nigel Williams, “Reeve's stem-cell legacy” https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982204007973, “Current Biology” , Volume 14, Issue 21, 9 November 2004, Pages R907-R908
Source: "Testimony in favor of funding human cloning experiments" http://www.chrisreevehomepage.com/sp-testimony-bill1758.html [S. 1758 Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001] (Senate - March 5, 2002)
