There's a tendency to treat anyone with a physical disability as inspiring. I call it a pedestal of prejudice, in that you're lifting people up to dismiss them. My whole thing is bringing us down to everyone else's level and saying we're all the same. The struggle is the same.

You can never walk a mile in someone elses shoes, but you can walk a mile in your own and be proud of it.

I think that's where it comes into play, when you are just looking at a document or whatever and you see the word "disability." Does that automatically trigger something in you that denies someone their personhood?

If everything was perfect, it would always be a person-first conversation, but whenever I have the opportunity, I lead with my personality. If they're looking and seeing the disability first or the chair first, I know that I have the ability to change that.

When I read the script [of Glee], the whole premise was that all the high school kids were being cruel to this kid in the wheelchair, and then the quarterback comes along and has a heart of gold and takes him out of a Porta Potty. That's too often what I see in media, that the characters with disabilities are there to make other people seem like heroes for treating the character with a disability with respect. Those are the kinds of roles that are out there.

You really just have to have a good attitude, challenge yourself, and you can accomplish great things.

We did a book signing and people came up to me. There was an expectant mother who was like, "I think we might name our child Zach because of your work."

We'd done a couple of road trips with my big chair, and it was such a hassle if we didn't have the van with the foldout ramp. I figured: There's got to be some option that I can use on the go. Now I can go anywhere with my friends, which is a big, life-changing thing. I can sit on it for as long as I need to.

The most important thing is to have the conversation, and let people who do make mistakes feel comfortable enough to continue the conversation.

Writing was not my medium. I preferred to do video.

You may not have a physical impairment, but you have things, whether it's finances, self-esteem, it doesn't matter. It's cut from the same cloth.

No Atlantis is too underwater or fictional.

What I don't like about the way the media portrays religion is that they seem to weaponize it and use it as a tool to divide people.

I didn't feel like I was putting anything good into the world, even though it was funny. I wanted to do something more positive that would have an impact. So even when I'm doing naked push-ups or whatever, it's astounding to see how people respond to it.

Technically I can get out of my wheelchair and crawl around and do things, but when I've traveled and they've lost my wheelchair in transit, I feel like I need to be bound to it. My functionality and autonomy are often bound to this.

My experiences of traveling abroad and going to Italy with my father, having to break down a gigantic electric chair to get on trains. You've got three minutes. You go to Pompeii and there are shockingly few accessible hotels in a city that was covered in volcanic ash.

I feel a lot of personal responsibility to undo the negative stereotypes. I know that it's not coming from a bad place. It's coming from an ignorant place. I can sort of be an ambassador in a subtle way to say, "This is what I am: a comedian, a show host, a writer." It will still always be part of the conversation and people will want to focus on it because there is a culture that is so embedded that if you have a disability, you're someone to be either admired just for living, or be pitied for having to struggle.

Call yourself and define your relationship to your chair the way you want to, or your disability the way you want to.

The biggest disabilities are when you sabotage yourself mentally, those personal demons that get on your shoulder and you can't shake 'em.

I thought this should be a travel show, because a lot of people with physical disabilities get discouraged.

“Laughing at somebody is just another way of dismissing them, but laughing with somebody is a bridge to understanding.” 

“In my darkest moments, the “what-if”s bury me and the “if only”s keep me from enjoying what is.” 

The Internet is crazy, and I love it!

Over the years, I learned that in my career, unlike in life, sometimes my wheelchair is its own automatic door opener. I was able to win the OWN competition by applying one simple principle: be funny, and admit you suck before anyone else can call you out on it. In other words, make the narrative of your failure a comedy.

The only two characters I can play convincingly are myself and a dumber and sweeter version of myself.

I'd wanted to be famous for as long as I could remember.

When I get real excited, my muscles go into spasm, so they just shake.

I was basically the person at Disney World that was in charge of clearing the park when it was closed... I was the guy... telling them to 'get the hell out and have a magical day.'

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. 

Should a person do good, let him do it again and again. Let him find pleasure therein, for blissful is the accumulation of good.

We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them.

“It is ridiculous to think that somebody else can make you happy or unhappy.”

“Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are. It solely relies on what you think.”

“A disciplined mind brings happiness.”

Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.

Looking deeply at life as it is in this very moment, the meditator dwells in stability and freedom.

Meditation brings wisdom; lack of mediation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.

“If you are quiet enough, you will hear the flow of the universe. You will feel its rhythm. Go with this flow. Happiness lies ahead. Meditation is key.”

Whatever a monk keeps pursuing with his thinking and pondering, that becomes the inclination of his awareness.

“The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.”

“Purity or impurity depends on oneself. No one can purify another.”

“However many holy words you read, However many you speak, What good will they do you If you do not act on upon them?”

“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change. ”

“In separateness lies the world’s greatest misery; in compassion lies the world’s true strength.”

“If you find no one to support you on the spiritual path, walk alone. There is no companionship with the immature.”

“Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.”

“However many holy words you read, However many you speak, What good will they do you If you do not act on upon them?”

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

“There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it. ”

“To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others.”