--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You can't comfort the afflicted with…" description: "\"You can't comfort the afflicted with afflicting the comfortable.\" — Princess Diana" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/644/princess-diana-4342_afflicted_you-can-t-comfort-the-afflicted-with-aff_250334.jpg" --- # You can't comfort the afflicted with afflicting the… ![“You can't comfort the afflicted with afflicting the comfortable.” quote by Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/644/princess-diana-4342_afflicted_you-can-t-comfort-the-afflicted-with-aff_250334.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/644/princess-diana-4342_afflicted_you-can-t-comfort-the-afflicted-with-aff_250334.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/644/princess-diana-4342_afflicted_you-can-t-comfort-the-afflicted-with-aff_250334.jpg) > “You can't comfort the afflicted with afflicting the comfortable.” [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Comfort cannot be offered to the suffering by harming those who are already comfortable. **In simple terms:** Do not harm the comfortable while helping the afflicted. Key Takeaway Seek compassionate solutions that aid all. Themes compassion social justice ethics Mood concerned empathetic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - poverty aid - healthcare policy - refugee support Key Concepts philosophy human rights Questions to Reflect On - How can we help the vulnerable without disadvantaging others? - What policies promote equitable comfort? A Different Perspective Balancing aid and systemic change is complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfort/) ## Related quotes > [“You can’t comfort the afflicted,” the note read, “without afflicting the comfortable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-andersen/you-can-t-comfort-the-afflicted-the-note-read-without-afflicting-the/) [Christopher Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-andersen/) > [Sometimes comforting the afflicted does require afflicting the comfortable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-cuomo/sometimes-comforting-the-afflicted-does-require-afflicting-the/) [Mario Cuomo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-cuomo/) > [I believe in comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/halford-luccock/i-believe-in-comforting-the-afflicted-and-afflicting-the-comfortable/) [Halford Luccock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/halford-luccock/) > [“The Gospel is meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/the-gospel-is-meant-to-comfort-the-afflicted-and-afflict-the/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [Comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/finley-peter-dunne/comfort-the-afflicted-and-afflict-the-comfortable/) [Finley Peter Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/finley-peter-dunne/) > [“I come to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/i-come-to-comfort-the-afflicted-and-to-afflict-the-comfortable/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-darrow/the-most-human-thing-we-can-do-is-comfort-the-afflicted-and-afflict/) [Clarence Darrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-darrow/) > [Stories are meant to comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/finley-peter-dunne/stories-are-meant-to-comfort-the-afflicted-and-afflict-the-comfortable/) [Finley Peter Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/finley-peter-dunne/) > [I spend half my time comforting the afflicated, and the other half afflicting the comfortable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wess-stafford/i-spend-half-my-time-comforting-the-afflicated-and-the-other-half/) [Wess Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wess-stafford/) > [CALLOUS, adj. Gifted with great fortitude to bear the evils afflicting another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/callous-adj-gifted-with-great-fortitude-to-bear-the-evils-afflicting/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Jogging, I believe they call it. It seems to be an epidemic psychological illness afflicting Americans these days. A form of masochism, like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lodge/jogging-i-believe-they-call-it-it-seems-to-be-an-epidemic/) [David Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lodge/) > [“You have more zeal than good taste, Martín. The disease afflicting you has a name, and that is Grand Guignol : it does to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/you-have-more-zeal-than-good-taste-mart-n-the-disease-afflicting-you/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafón](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [Pour not on the comforts you want, but upon the mercies you have. Look rather at God's ending in afflicting, than to the measure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-love/pour-not-on-the-comforts-you-want-but-upon-the-mercies-you-have-look/) [Christopher Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-love/) > [In all life one should comfort the afflicted, but verily, also, one should afflict the comfortable, and especially when they are comfortably, contentedly, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/in-all-life-one-should-comfort-the-afflicted-but-verily-also-one/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [I've always liked this idea that writing should comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable to create trouble. The value of a work of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/i-ve-always-liked-this-idea-that-writing-should-comfort-the-afflicted/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) ## More by Princess Diana > [I understand that change is frightening for people, especially if there's nothing to go to. It's best to stay where you are. I understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/i-understand-that-change-is-frightening-for-people-especially-if/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [Only do what your heart tells you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/only-do-what-your-heart-tells-you/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [People think at the end of the day that a man is the only answer to fulfillment. Actually a job is better for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/people-think-at-the-end-of-the-day-that-a-man-is-the-only-answer-to/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [All people want to be touched.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/all-people-want-to-be-touched/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [I found myself being more and more involved with people who were rejected by society - with drug addicts, alcoholism, battered this, battered that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/i-found-myself-being-more-and-more-involved-with-people-who-were/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [If men had to have babies, they would only ever have one each.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/if-men-had-to-have-babies-they-would-only-ever-have-one-each/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [One day I'm going to go up in a helicopter and it'll just blow up. MI5 will do away with me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/one-day-i-m-going-to-go-up-in-a-helicopter-and-it-ll-just-blow-up-mi5/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [Being a princess isn't all it's cracked up to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/being-a-princess-isn-t-all-it-s-cracked-up-to-be/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [Nothing brings me more happiness than trying to help the most vulnerable people in society. It is a goal and an essential part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/nothing-brings-me-more-happiness-than-trying-to-help-the-most/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [If I am to care for people in hospital I really must know every aspect of their treatment and to understand their suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/if-i-am-to-care-for-people-in-hospital-i-really-must-know-every/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [There's no better way to dismantle a personality than to isolate it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/there-s-no-better-way-to-dismantle-a-personality-than-to-isolate-it/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [No one sat me down with a piece of paper and said, This is what is expected of you. But... I'm lucky enough in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/no-one-sat-me-down-with-a-piece-of-paper-and-said-this-is-what-is/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [I decline to go fox hunting (nor did she want her sons William and Harry to be involved in hunting).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/i-decline-to-go-fox-hunting-nor-did-she-want-her-sons-william-and/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [Life is just a journey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/life-is-just-a-journey/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/carry-out-a-random-act-of-kindness-with-no-expectation-of-reward-safe/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) [Explore all 112 Princess Diana quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) ## More Afflicted quotes > [“Feeble, I’d become afflicted And my agony had no closure, To love I’d become immune Despite my abundant exposure”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-marino/feeble-i-d-become-afflicted-and-my-agony-had-no-closure-to-love-i-d/) [Joy Marino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-marino/) > [ Every writer since the beginning of time, just like other people, has been afflicted by what \[a\] friend of mine calls "the fleas of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-styron/every-writer-since-the-beginning-of-time-just-like-other-people-has/) [William Styron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-styron/) > [The truest help we can render an afflicted man is not to take his burden from him, but to call out his best energy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/the-truest-help-we-can-render-an-afflicted-man-is-not-to-take-his/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [We seem to be afflicted by a widespread and eroding reluctance to take any stand on any values, moral, behavioral or esthetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/we-seem-to-be-afflicted-by-a-widespread-and-eroding-reluctance-to/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [Saints spring and thrive most internally, when they are most externally afflicted. Afflictions are the mother of virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-brooks/saints-spring-and-thrive-most-internally-when-they-are-most/) [Thomas Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-brooks/) > [“The Gospel is meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/the-gospel-is-meant-to-comfort-the-afflicted-and-afflict-the/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [Dillinger at one point was the second most popular man in America after President Roosevelt. And he was a national hero for a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-mann/dillinger-at-one-point-was-the-second-most-popular-man-in-america/) [Michael Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-mann/) > [“The capacity to pay attention to an afflicted person is something very rare, very difficult; it is nearly a miracle. It is a miracle.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/the-capacity-to-pay-attention-to-an-afflicted-person-is-something/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [Even in the greatest afflictions, we ought to testify to God, that, in receiving them from his hand, we feel pleasure in the midst…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wesley/even-in-the-greatest-afflictions-we-ought-to-testify-to-god-that-in/) [John Wesley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wesley/) > [Men are apt to prefer a prosperous error to an afflicted truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-taylor/men-are-apt-to-prefer-a-prosperous-error-to-an-afflicted-truth/) [Jeremy Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-taylor/) > [We are all afflicted by original sin; people succumbing to temptations to do and to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/we-are-all-afflicted-by-original-sin-people-succumbing-to-temptations/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [What single organization has done more for the orphan than the Catholic Church? What one, through hospital and asylum, more for the sick and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/what-single-organization-has-done-more-for-the-orphan-than-the/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) > [It is an easy thing to talk of patience to the afflicted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/it-is-an-easy-thing-to-talk-of-patience-to-the-afflicted/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Eastern Muslim countries, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, are relative success stories, as they are not afflicted by the Arab heritage of retreat and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-black/eastern-muslim-countries-such-as-indonesia-and-malaysia-are-relative/) [Conrad Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-black/) > [Like so many poor Ilokanos, my grandparents left their village, for it could no longer sustain them. The Ilocos is a narrow coastal plain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/like-so-many-poor-ilokanos-my-grandparents-left-their-village-for-it/) [F. Sionil Jose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) Browse all 65 Afflicted quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You can't comfort the afflicted with afflicting the comfortable.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Princess Diana" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/you-can-t-comfort-the-afflicted-with-afflicting-the-comfortable/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Afflicted" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/you-can-t-comfort-the-afflicted-with-afflicting-the-comfortable/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/644/princess-diana-4342_afflicted_you-can-t-comfort-the-afflicted-with-aff_250334.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/644/princess-diana-4342_afflicted_you-can-t-comfort-the-afflicted-with-aff_250334.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/644/princess-diana-4342_afflicted_you-can-t-comfort-the-afflicted-with-aff_250334.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You can't comfort the afflicted with afflicting the comfortable.” — Princess Diana", "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": "Princess Diana", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You can't comfort the afflicted with...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/you-can-t-comfort-the-afflicted-with-afflicting-the-comfortable/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/you-can-t-comfort-the-afflicted-with-afflicting-the-comfortable/#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 } } ] } ```