"My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother"
About this Quote
The real engine of the quote is the last sentence: “I believed my mother.” It’s a simple declaration of agency disguised as obedience. She’s not romanticizing denial; she’s naming a choice about whose story gets to run her life. Faith here functions like a technology: it organizes effort, tolerates setbacks, and makes endurance rational. The subtext is that hope isn’t passive - it’s a daily discipline, often borrowed from people who love you before you’re legible to institutions.
Knowing Rudolph’s biography sharpens the line into something almost audacious. A child who survived polio and wore leg braces becomes an Olympic champion. The quote doesn’t pretend that belief cures illness. It argues that belief can outcompete a sentence - and that for marginalized athletes especially, the first race is often against the world’s low expectations.
Quote Details
| Topic | Mother |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Rudolph, Wilma. (n.d.). My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-doctor-told-me-i-would-never-walk-again-my-111437/
Chicago Style
Rudolph, Wilma. "My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother." FixQuotes. Accessed February 1, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-doctor-told-me-i-would-never-walk-again-my-111437/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-doctor-told-me-i-would-never-walk-again-my-111437/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
