--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: physical disability looms pretty large in…" description: "\"physical disability looms pretty large in one's life. But it doesn't devour one wholly. I'm not, for instance, Ms. MS, a walking, talking embodiment of..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/568/nancy-mairs-20489_disability_physical-disability-looms-pretty-large-i_540428.png" --- # physical disability looms pretty large in one's life. But… ![“physical disability looms pretty large in one's life. But it doesn't devour one wholly. I'm not, for instance, Ms. MS, a walking, talking embodiment of a chronic incurable degenerative disease.” quote by Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/568/nancy-mairs-20489_disability_physical-disability-looms-pretty-large-i_540428.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/568/nancy-mairs-20489_disability_physical-disability-looms-pretty-large-i_540428.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/568/nancy-mairs-20489_disability_physical-disability-looms-pretty-large-i_540428.png) > “physical disability looms pretty large in one's life. But it doesn't devour one wholly. I'm not, for instance, Ms. MS, a walking, talking embodiment of a chronic incurable degenerative disease.” [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Physical disability can dominate life but does not define a person entirely; identity persists beyond limitations. **In simple terms:** Disability is part, not whole, of self. Key Takeaway Recognize and nurture non‑physical strengths. Themes identity resilience disability self‑concept Mood reflective hopeful Type personal inspirational When to use this quote - daily coping - advocacy work - creative expression - support groups Key Concepts Existentialism body‑mind dualism Questions to Reflect On - How do you separate your self‑worth from your physical condition? - What non‑physical aspects of yourself bring you joy? A Different Perspective Physical challenges may limit certain activities but not emotional or intellectual growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chronic Incurable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chronic-incurable-4520389/) [Disability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disability/) [Disability Looms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disability-looms-4520387/) [Disease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disease/) [Embodiment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embodiment/) [Embodiment Chronic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embodiment-chronic-4520388/) [Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness/) [Instance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instance/) [Physical Disability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physical-disability-1046632/) [Talking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talking/) [Walking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walking/) ## Related quotes > [Whether it's depression or a physical disability, not everyone wants to be seen as a victim.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-rife/whether-it-s-depression-or-a-physical-disability-not-everyone-wants/) [Matt Rife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-rife/) > [There's a tendency to treat anyone with a physical disability as inspiring. 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The world, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-p-de-seversky/i-discovered-early-that-the-hardest-thing-to-overcome-is-not-a/) [Alexander P. de Seversky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-p-de-seversky/) > [I've fought physical disability and was cured because of naturopathy and yoga.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sangram-singh/i-ve-fought-physical-disability-and-was-cured-because-of-naturopathy/) [Sangram Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sangram-singh/) > [By conquering all the seven summits I will prove that physical disability can never be a hindrance in achieving your life's goal if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arunima-sinha/by-conquering-all-the-seven-summits-i-will-prove-that-physical/) [Arunima Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arunima-sinha/) > [I felt permanently exiled from 'normality.' Whether imposed by self or society, this outsider status - and not the disability itself - constitutes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/i-felt-permanently-exiled-from-normality-whether-imposed-by-self-or/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [No female - young, old, black or white - could ever play the knight-on-charger with meager experience. If she presented herself as the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/froma-harrop/no-female-young-old-black-or-white-could-ever-play-the-knight-on/) [Froma Harrop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/froma-harrop/) > [Educational exchange can turn nations into people, contributing as no other form of communication can to the humanizing of international relations. Man's capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/educational-exchange-can-turn-nations-into-people-contributing-as-no/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [Greek is the embodiment of the fluent speech that runs or soars, the speech of a people which could not help giving winged feet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/greek-is-the-embodiment-of-the-fluent-speech-that-runs-or-soars-the/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [The Law is the true embodiment of everything that's excellent; it has no kind of fault or flaw and I, my Lords, embody the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-gilbert/the-law-is-the-true-embodiment-of-everything-that-s-excellent-it-has/) [W. S. Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-gilbert/) > [The Hope, Love & Healing necklace is the perfect embodiment of what we are trying to bring to Haiti through safe and sustainable housing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-arquette/the-hope-love-healing-necklace-is-the-perfect-embodiment-of-what-we/) [Patricia Arquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-arquette/) > [Your ego is your embodiment and your self is your potentiality and that's what you listen to when you listen for the voice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/your-ego-is-your-embodiment-and-your-self-is-your-potentiality-and/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) ## More by Nancy Mairs > [Poor and afflicted and oppressed people have faces, and we are required to look squarely into them. We can't love what we won't experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/poor-and-afflicted-and-oppressed-people-have-faces-and-we-are/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [If only we could have them back as babies today, now that we have some idea what to do with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/if-only-we-could-have-them-back-as-babies-today-now-that-we-have-some/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [In a society that prates about, but seldom practices, communication, the craving to be listened to, heard, understood - which originates with the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/in-a-society-that-prates-about-but-seldom-practices-communication-the/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [My writing arises out of erotic impulse toward an other: it is an act of love. And I want terribly to be loved in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/my-writing-arises-out-of-erotic-impulse-toward-an-other-it-is-an-act/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [I felt permanently exiled from 'normality.' Whether imposed by self or society, this outsider status - and not the disability itself - constitutes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/i-felt-permanently-exiled-from-normality-whether-imposed-by-self-or/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, doubtless two of the most exquisitely adolescent of fictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/atlas-shrugged-and-the-fountainhead-doubtless-two-of-the-most/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [Do others, I wondered, "see things as I do? I do not think so, for if they did they would not still be alive."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/do-others-i-wondered-see-things-as-i-do-i-do-not-think-so-for-if-they/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [That's the trouble with honorable mentions: they let everyone know you applied and didn't win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/that-s-the-trouble-with-honorable-mentions-they-let-everyone-know-you/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [Out of the new arrivals in our lives--the odd word stumbled upon in a difficult text, the handsome black stranger who bursts in one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/out-of-the-new-arrivals-in-our-lives-the-odd-word-stumbled-upon-in-a/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [ In the grammar of the phallus -- the I, I, I -- \[woman\] can't utter female experience. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/in-the-grammar-of-the-phallus-the-i-i-i-woman-can-t-utter-female/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [This kind of split makes me crazy, this territorializing of the holy. Here God may dwell. Here God may not dwell. It contradicts everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/this-kind-of-split-makes-me-crazy-this-territorializing-of-the-holy/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [people who seem most hostile to my presence are those most fearful of my fate. And since their fear keeps them emotionally distant from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/people-who-seem-most-hostile-to-my-presence-are-those-most-fearful-of/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [The fact is that ours is the only minority you can join involuntarily, without warning, at any time. And if you live long enough,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/the-fact-is-that-ours-is-the-only-minority-you-can-join-involuntarily/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [I will write myself into well-being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/i-will-write-myself-into-well-being/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [our lives are stories we tell ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/our-lives-are-stories-we-tell-ourselves/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) [Explore all 30 Nancy Mairs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) ## More Disability quotes > [Disability, in general, hasn't been included in the conversation about inclusivity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-winston-george/disability-in-general-hasn-t-been-included-in-the-conversation-about/) [Jason Winston George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-winston-george/) > [“She would prove to everyone she could do everything. She wouldn’t let her disability be an excuse, wouldn’t give anyone reason to pity her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-grace-davis/she-would-prove-to-everyone-she-could-do-everything-she-wouldn-t-let/) [Liz Grace Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-grace-davis/) > [Because my graduate academic training at law school was not one that included most of the intellectual traditions I find useful for understanding the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-spade/because-my-graduate-academic-training-at-law-school-was-not-one-that/) [Dean Spade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-spade/) > [“Consider this: the US economy created 2.4 million jobs in the three years beginning in June 2009. In the same period, 3.3 million Americans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/consider-this-the-us-economy-created-2-4-million-jobs-in-the-three/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Every EDS patient knows that one of the hardest parts of our day is the moment we open our eyes and waken into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bihovsky/every-eds-patient-knows-that-one-of-the-hardest-parts-of-our-day-is/) [Michael Bihovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bihovsky/) > [I'm just a man on a mission, to prove my disability hasn't won](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-hensel/i-m-just-a-man-on-a-mission-to-prove-my-disability-hasn-t-won/) [Robert M. Hensel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-hensel/) > [I love my disability. It is the best thing that ever happened to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-alcott/i-love-my-disability-it-is-the-best-thing-that-ever-happened-to-me/) [Dylan Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-alcott/) > [“He took the teapot and poured two cups. She was grateful. And also frustrated. Not being able to walk was annoying, and that emotion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/he-took-the-teapot-and-poured-two-cups-she-was-grateful-and-also/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [When people say there are people who are faking it, if I had a choice I wouldn't want to have a disability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kadeena-cox/when-people-say-there-are-people-who-are-faking-it-if-i-had-a-choice/) [Kadeena Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kadeena-cox/) > [We think we know what it's all about; we think that disability is a really simple thing, and we don't expect to see disabled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-young/we-think-we-know-what-it-s-all-about-we-think-that-disability-is-a/) [Stella Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-young/) > [“I wanted to share the realities of living with a disability since birth. My book is my attempt to promote increased inclusion and greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-torreno/i-wanted-to-share-the-realities-of-living-with-a-disability-since/) [Stephanie Torreno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-torreno/) > [Woman has so long been subject to the disabilities and restrictions with which her progress has been embarrassed that she has become enervated, her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretia-mott/woman-has-so-long-been-subject-to-the-disabilities-and-restrictions/) [Lucretia Mott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretia-mott/) > [It feels amazing to be a role model for people with and without disabilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-potter/it-feels-amazing-to-be-a-role-model-for-people-with-and-without/) [Lauren Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-potter/) > [I didn't know anything was wrong with me when I was growing up. 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