--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What can you or I do? Alone, almost…" description: "\"What can you or I do? Alone, almost nothing. Yet one person - you alone - can make the difference. . . . The failure of just one person to join, to par..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29a/archibald-cox-48465_destruction_what-can-you-or-i-do-alone-almost-nothin_2228710.png" --- # What can you or I do? Alone, almost nothing. Yet one… ![“What can you or I do? Alone, almost nothing. Yet one person - you alone - can make the difference. . . . The failure of just one person to join, to participate, to do whatever he or she can - your failure or my failure - may mean that there is just one too few to win the fight for sanity, and so…” quote by Archibald Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29a/archibald-cox-48465_destruction_what-can-you-or-i-do-alone-almost-nothin_2228710.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29a/archibald-cox-48465_destruction_what-can-you-or-i-do-alone-almost-nothin_2228710.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29a/archibald-cox-48465_destruction_what-can-you-or-i-do-alone-almost-nothin_2228710.png) > “What can you or I do? Alone, almost nothing. Yet one person - you alone - can make the difference. . . . The failure of just one person to join, to participate, to do whatever he or she can - your failure or my failure - may mean that there is just one too few to win the fight for sanity, and so leave the world on the road to destruction. Each of us, all of us, must do what we can.” [Archibald Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-cox/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Individual effort matters; one person's participation can tip the balance between societal collapse and preservation. **In simple terms:** One person can make a crucial difference in societal outcomes. Key Takeaway Take responsibility and act, however small. Themes civic duty individual impact collective responsibility activism Mood urgent inspirational Type political motivational When to use this quote - community organizing - voting - volunteering - grassroots movements Key Concepts social theory ethics psychology Questions to Reflect On - What actions can you realistically take? - How do structures enable or hinder personal impact? A Different Perspective The quote may underestimate systemic barriers that limit individual influence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Humanist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanist/) [Sanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sanity/) [Winning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winning/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Delivering a successful presentation could mean landing a major new contract, better prices for your services, or getting the funding you need. Failure can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-howes/delivering-a-successful-presentation-could-mean-landing-a-major-new/) [Lewis Howes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-howes/) > [I'm kind of a failure. I mean, I'll be honest. I'm successful in that I'm getting to work on great stuff, but I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feig/i-m-kind-of-a-failure-i-mean-i-ll-be-honest-i-m-successful-in-that-i/) [Paul Feig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feig/) > [There's no such thing as failure - just waiting for success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-osborne/there-s-no-such-thing-as-failure-just-waiting-for-success/) [John Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-osborne/) > [There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah-winfrey/there-is-no-such-thing-as-failure-failure-is-just-life-trying-to-move/) [Oprah Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah-winfrey/) > [“Procrastination should not be linked with failure, just as early action should not be tied to success.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-lamia/procrastination-should-not-be-linked-with-failure-just-as-early/) Mary Lamia > [What strikes me is that theres a very fine line between success and failure. Just one ingredient can make the difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lloyd-webber/what-strikes-me-is-that-theres-a-very-fine-line-between-success-and/) [Andrew Lloyd Webber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lloyd-webber/) > [Welcome it as part of a process... you just can't avoid it... if you go to bat enough times, you are going to strike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-guber/welcome-it-as-part-of-a-process-you-just-can-t-avoid-it-if-you-go-to/) [Peter Guber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-guber/) > [You always want to try, in everything you do, to attempt something you've never tried before, and the only way to succeed at that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beau-willimon/you-always-want-to-try-in-everything-you-do-to-attempt-something-you/) [Beau Willimon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beau-willimon/) > [You can work on a movie for years, and you won't know until you show it to an audience for the first time if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-apatow/you-can-work-on-a-movie-for-years-and-you-won-t-know-until-you-show/) [Judd Apatow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-apatow/) > [It's all about perseverance. I just had this attitude … where failure was just not an option.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-binnie/it-s-all-about-perseverance-i-just-had-this-attitude-where-failure/) Brian Binnie > [Failure is just part of life; it happens to everyone. Yet, it doesn't have to be crippling if you don't let it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-anthony-dale/failure-is-just-part-of-life-it-happens-to-everyone-yet-it-doesn-t/) [Ian Anthony Dale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-anthony-dale/) > [I think that failure is just as important as success. In a way, failure is a kind of success if you can look at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/i-think-that-failure-is-just-as-important-as-success-in-a-way-failure/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [A failure becomes just one time at bat if you refuse to let it defeat you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marv-levy/a-failure-becomes-just-one-time-at-bat-if-you-refuse-to-let-it-defeat/) [Marv Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marv-levy/) > [I had a mother who taught me there is no such thing as failure. It is just a temporary postponement of success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddy-ebsen/i-had-a-mother-who-taught-me-there-is-no-such-thing-as-failure-it-is/) [Buddy Ebsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddy-ebsen/) > [With improvisation, I just do it. It might be a total failure but then you just throw the dice again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-marclay/with-improvisation-i-just-do-it-it-might-be-a-total-failure-but-then/) [Christian Marclay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-marclay/) ## More by Archibald Cox > [A free society depends upon a high degree of mutual trust. The public will not give that trust to officials who are not seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-cox/a-free-society-depends-upon-a-high-degree-of-mutual-trust-the-public/) [Archibald Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-cox/) > [Whether ours shall be a government of laws and not of men is now for Congress and ultimately the American people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-cox/whether-ours-shall-be-a-government-of-laws-and-not-of-men-is-now-for/) [Archibald Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-cox/) > [A great many college graduates come here thinking of lawyers as social engineers arguing the great Constitutional issues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-cox/a-great-many-college-graduates-come-here-thinking-of-lawyers-as/) [Archibald Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-cox/) > [I confess that I cannot understand how we can plot, lie, cheat and commit murder abroad and remain humane, honorable, trustworthy and trusted at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-cox/i-confess-that-i-cannot-understand-how-we-can-plot-lie-cheat-and/) [Archibald Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-cox/) > [... true civil disobedience ... compels the state to resort to power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-cox/true-civil-disobedience-compels-the-state-to-resort-to-power/) [Archibald Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-cox/) > [Watergate showed more strengths in our system than weaknesses... The whole country did take part in quite a genuine sense in passing judgment on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-cox/watergate-showed-more-strengths-in-our-system-than-weaknesses-the/) [Archibald Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-cox/) > [Through the centuries, men of law have been persistently concerned with the resolution of disputes in ways that enable society to achieve its goals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-cox/through-the-centuries-men-of-law-have-been-persistently-concerned/) [Archibald Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-cox/) [Explore all 8 Archibald Cox quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-cox/) ## More Destruction quotes > [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [Perhaps the greatest and least visible form of impoverishment caused by the Corporate State is the destruction of community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-reich/perhaps-the-greatest-and-least-visible-form-of-impoverishment-caused/) [Charles A. Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Hundreds of millions of human beings on our planet increasingly suffer from unemployment, poverty, hunger, and the destruction of their families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-kung/hundreds-of-millions-of-human-beings-on-our-planet-increasingly/) [Hans Kung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-kung/) > [Away with you, water, destruction of wine!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/away-with-you-water-destruction-of-wine/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [ No visiting angel, or explorer from another planet, could have guessed that this bland orb \[Earth\] teemed with vermin, with world-mastering, self-torturing, incipiently angelic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-stapledon/no-visiting-angel-or-explorer-from-another-planet-could-have-guessed/) [Olaf Stapledon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-stapledon/) > [As far as I know, the question of whether and how it could be strategically or morally justified was never the subject of open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-far-as-i-know-the-question-of-whether-and-how-it-could-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is there some lesson on how to be friends? I think what it means is that central to living a life that is good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/is-there-some-lesson-on-how-to-be-friends-i-think-what-it-means-is/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“We're on the eve of destruction. Men have lost all sense of honor. Power has become their faith instead of faith being their power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atiq-rahimi/we-re-on-the-eve-of-destruction-men-have-lost-all-sense-of-honor/) Atiq Rahimi [Browse all 3,161 Destruction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What can you or I do? Alone, almost nothing. Yet one person - you alone - can make the difference. . . . 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