“I like to say that the greatest handicap of deafness does not lie in the ear, it lies in the mind. I hope that through my example, such as my role on 'The West Wing,' I can help change attitudes on deafness and prove we can really do everything... except hear.”

“At some point we have to stop and say, There's Marlee, not, There's the deaf actress.”

“The Earth does not belong to us: we belong to the Earth.”

“I want roles without anger and feistiness. I want to show weakness and sadness, some love, some happiness.”

“I'm not broke. Like everybody else, I owe money.”

“YouTube is akin to having my own network.”

“I'm the only one in my family who is deaf, and there are still conversations that go around me that I miss out on. And I ask what's going on, and I have to ask to be included. But I'm not going to be sad about it. I don't live in sad isolation. It's just a situation I'm used to.”

“The only thing I can't do is hear. I can drive, I have a life with four kids, I work on TV, I do movies, so the deafness question, is it that they want to know because, what? Not sure.”

“I'm different, and my manner invites questions. I'm never afraid to answer.”

“Everybody's got a job to do, and I do mine as best I can.”

“I have made the choices that work best for me. I know I cannot please everyone, and that's fine.”