"Christopher Reeve understood that... everything begins with hope. His vision of walking again, his belief that he would be able to in his lifetime, towered over his broken body"
About this Quote
The specific intent is reverential, almost corrective. Reeve’s post-accident life was often consumed by spectacle: the Superman actor rendered immobile, then repurposed as inspiration. Davis tries to anchor that spectacle to something more intimate and causative: not grit as branding, but hope as origin point. "Everything begins" is absolutist for a reason; it turns a private psychological practice into a foundational principle, the kind you can build a legacy on.
The subtext is more complicated. By centering "walking again" as the pinnacle hope, the quote brushes against the familiar able-bodied endpoint: the notion that the best disability story is the one that ends with undoing disability. Yet Davis also hints at Reeve’s real power: he made belief politically useful, turning his personal vision into fundraising, research, and pressure on institutions. The line "in his lifetime" tightens the stakes - this wasn’t vague optimism. It was a deadline, a wager against biology, and a way of insisting his future still belonged to him.
Quote Details
| Topic | Hope |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Davis, Patti. (2026, January 15). Christopher Reeve understood that... everything begins with hope. His vision of walking again, his belief that he would be able to in his lifetime, towered over his broken body. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/christopher-reeve-understood-that-everything-143416/
Chicago Style
Davis, Patti. "Christopher Reeve understood that... everything begins with hope. His vision of walking again, his belief that he would be able to in his lifetime, towered over his broken body." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/christopher-reeve-understood-that-everything-143416/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Christopher Reeve understood that... everything begins with hope. His vision of walking again, his belief that he would be able to in his lifetime, towered over his broken body." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/christopher-reeve-understood-that-everything-143416/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.








