--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is in the comprehension of the…" description: "\"It is in the comprehension of the physically disabled, or disordered ... that we are behind our age… sympathy as a fine art is backward in the growth o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward-2_age_it-is-in-the-comprehension-of-the-physic_1526700.jpg" --- # It is in the comprehension of the physically disabled, or… ![“It is in the comprehension of the physically disabled, or disordered ... that we are behind our age… sympathy as a fine art is backward in the growth of progress.” quote by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward-2_age_it-is-in-the-comprehension-of-the-physic_1526700.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward-2_age_it-is-in-the-comprehension-of-the-physic_1526700.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward-2_age_it-is-in-the-comprehension-of-the-physic_1526700.jpg) > “It is in the comprehension of the physically disabled, or disordered ... that we are behind our age… sympathy as a fine art is backward in the growth of progress.” [Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding disabled people reveals societal lag; empathy must become a progressive skill, not a nostalgic art. **In simple terms:** Seeing disabled people shows we’re behind; empathy should drive progress. Key Takeaway Make empathy a tool for advancement. Themes disability empathy social progress ageism Mood reflective concerned Type analytical advocational When to use this quote - policy making - education reform - community inclusion - advocacy - design accessibility Key Concepts social theory human rights progressive ethics Questions to Reflect On - How can we turn empathy into concrete policy? - What structures keep us from progress? A Different Perspective Empathy alone cannot fix structural barriers without systemic change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Age Sympathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age-sympathy-5075643/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is/) [Behinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behinds/) [Comprehension](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comprehension/) [Disabled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disabled/) [Disabled Disordered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disabled-disordered-5655267/) [Disordered Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disordered-age-5655266/) [Fine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fine/) [Fine art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fine-art/) [Fine arts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fine-arts/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Physically disabled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physically-disabled/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Sympathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sympathy/) ## Related quotes > [Our age is pre-eminently the age of sympathy, as the eighteenth century was the age of reason. 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She really did suffer for her art. She speaks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindi-ortega/the-song-this-is-not-surreal-was-inspired-by-a-painter-i-love-frida/) [Lindi Ortega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindi-ortega/) > [Some people's photography is an art. Not mine. Art is a dirty word in photography. All this fine art crap is killing it already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-newton/some-people-s-photography-is-an-art-not-mine-art-is-a-dirty-word-in/) [Helmut Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-newton/) > [A creative life is an amplified life. It's a bigger life, a happier life, an expanded life, and a hell of a lot more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/a-creative-life-is-an-amplified-life-it-s-a-bigger-life-a-happier/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) ## More by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward > [The literary artist will ... portray what he knows, and little else. 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I think I always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/to-work-to-work-hard-to-see-work-steadily-and-see-it-whole-was-the/) [Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/) > [Possibly the Creator did not make the world chiefly for the purpose of providing studies for gifted novelists; but if He had done so,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/possibly-the-creator-did-not-make-the-world-chiefly-for-the-purpose/) [Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/) > [It seems to me that life is always undoing for us something that we have just laboriously done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/it-seems-to-me-that-life-is-always-undoing-for-us-something-that-we/) [Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/) > [The rainiest nights, like the rainiest lives, are by no means the saddest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/the-rainiest-nights-like-the-rainiest-lives-are-by-no-means-the/) [Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/) > [... life is moral responsibility. Life is several other things, we do not deny. It is beauty, it is joy, it is tragedy, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/life-is-moral-responsibility-life-is-several-other-things-we-do-not/) [Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/) > [The great law of denial belongs to the powerful forces of life, whether the case be one of coolish baked beans, or an unrequited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/the-great-law-of-denial-belongs-to-the-powerful-forces-of-life/) [Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/) > [Death is not the worst sorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/death-is-not-the-worst-sorrow/) [Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/) > [... it seems to have been my luck to stumble into various forms of progress, to which I have been of the smallest possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/it-seems-to-have-been-my-luck-to-stumble-into-various-forms-of/) [Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/) > [... when one reflects on the books one never has written, and never may, though their schedules lie in the beautiful chirography which marks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/when-one-reflects-on-the-books-one-never-has-written-and-never-may/) [Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/) [Explore all 30 Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/) ## More Age quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [When I first started writing, when I was 15, I would go to work with people and they would tell me my lyrics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-claudio/when-i-first-started-writing-when-i-was-15-i-would-go-to-work-with/) [Sabrina Claudio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-claudio/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. 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Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/) [Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [We have started to make music at age seven. That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is in the comprehension of the physically disabled, or disordered ... that we are behind our age… sympathy as a fine art is backward in the growth of progress.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/it-is-in-the-comprehension-of-the-physically-disabled-or-disordered/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Age" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/it-is-in-the-comprehension-of-the-physically-disabled-or-disordered/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward-2_age_it-is-in-the-comprehension-of-the-physic_1526700.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward-2_age_it-is-in-the-comprehension-of-the-physic_1526700.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward-2_age_it-is-in-the-comprehension-of-the-physic_1526700.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is in the comprehension of the physically disabled, or disordered ... that we are behind our age……” — Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is in the comprehension of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/it-is-in-the-comprehension-of-the-physically-disabled-or-disordered/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-stuart-phelps-ward/it-is-in-the-comprehension-of-the-physically-disabled-or-disordered/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```