--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But that was the thing about zero. Its…" description: "\"But that was the thing about zero. Its weakness. Even if zero had taken over the entire universe, the biggest fascist of all, one tiny gesture could de..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68e/janet-fitch-717_atoms_but-that-was-the-thing-about-zero-its-we_2676394.jpg" --- # But that was the thing about zero. Its weakness. Even if… ![“But that was the thing about zero. Its weakness. Even if zero had taken over the entire universe, the biggest fascist of all, one tiny gesture could deny it. One footprint, one atom. You didn't have to be a genius. You didn't even have to know that was what you were doing. You made a mark. You…” quote by Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68e/janet-fitch-717_atoms_but-that-was-the-thing-about-zero-its-we_2676394.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68e/janet-fitch-717_atoms_but-that-was-the-thing-about-zero-its-we_2676394.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68e/janet-fitch-717_atoms_but-that-was-the-thing-about-zero-its-we_2676394.jpg) > “But that was the thing about zero. Its weakness. Even if zero had taken over the entire universe, the biggest fascist of all, one tiny gesture could deny it. One footprint, one atom. You didn't have to be a genius. You didn't even have to know that was what you were doing. You made a mark. You changed something. It said, "A human being passed here." And changed zero to one.” [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even a tiny act can disrupt an overwhelming force, turning emptiness into existence through human presence. **In simple terms:** Small actions can change huge powers. Key Takeaway Make your presence count. Themes agency impact resistance humanity change Mood determined reflective Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - personal protest - environmental activism - social media campaigns - everyday kindness Key Concepts existentialism symbolism microcosm Questions to Reflect On - What small act can you take to assert your existence? - How does awareness amplify impact? A Different Perspective Zero may dominate, but without conscious intent, it remains inert. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atom Didn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atom-didn-2544352/) [Atoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atoms/) [Changed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changed/) [Changed Zero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changed-zero-2544351/) [Deny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deny/) [Doing you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-you/) [Fascists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fascists/) [Footprint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/footprint/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Gestures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gestures/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mark/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken/) [Thing Zero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-zero-2544353/) [Tiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tiny/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) [Weakness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weakness/) [Weakness Zero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weakness-zero-2544350/) [You changed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you-changed/) [Zero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zero/) ## Related quotes > [There is no such thing as zero uncertainty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/usama-fayyad/there-is-no-such-thing-as-zero-uncertainty/) [Usama Fayyad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/usama-fayyad/) > [“...if Nonna sensed weakness, she'd zero in for the kill”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosie-genova/if-nonna-sensed-weakness-she-d-zero-in-for-the-kill/) [Rosie Genova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosie-genova/) > [I think the worst part about a breakup sometimes, if one could choose a worst part, would possibly be if you get out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-think-the-worst-part-about-a-breakup-sometimes-if-one-could-choose/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [I hope everyone continues to ride with me the way they have done. 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"That I only have eyes for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/you-changed-the-subject-from-what-the-empty-headed-girls-who-think/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [You can't. Do you hear me? You think you've figured something out? You run over here so pleased with yourself because you changed your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-auburn/you-can-t-do-you-hear-me-you-think-you-ve-figured-something-out-you/) [David Auburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-auburn/) > [People do go back, but they don't survive, because two realities are claiming them at the same time. Such things are too much. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/people-do-go-back-but-they-don-t-survive-because-two-realities-are/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [I was thinking that maybe when everything around you changed all the time, it was nice to know that something would always be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michele-jaffe/i-was-thinking-that-maybe-when-everything-around-you-changed-all-the/) [Michele Jaffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michele-jaffe/) > [Growing up is all about getting hurt. And then getting over it. You hurt. You recover. You move on. Odds are pretty good you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/growing-up-is-all-about-getting-hurt-and-then-getting-over-it-you/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [Racial humor was about 35% of my act when I first started. But I realized that it was a crutch. What brought it home…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/racial-humor-was-about-35-of-my-act-when-i-first-started-but-i/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [Everybody look at you strange, say you changed Like you work that hard to stay the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/everybody-look-at-you-strange-say-you-changed-like-you-work-that-hard/) [Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/) > [Pain does two things: It teaches you, tells you that you're alive. Then it passes away and leaves you changed. It leaves you wiser,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/pain-does-two-things-it-teaches-you-tells-you-that-you-re-alive-then/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [The concept of growing up is so hard to quantify. What have you learned and how have you changed and how have you stayed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-byrne/the-concept-of-growing-up-is-so-hard-to-quantify-what-have-you/) [Rose Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-byrne/) ## More by Janet Fitch > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [I love Derrick Brown for the surprise of one word waking up next to another. One moment tender, funny or romantic, the next, visceral,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/i-love-derrick-brown-for-the-surprise-of-one-word-waking-up-next-to/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [“That fucking crow-bodied thing had won. How gleeful it was now. 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But Michael saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/when-most-people-looked-at-josie-tyrell-they-only-saw-a-certain/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [“They can't touch us. We're the Vikings. We go into battle without armor for the flush and the blood of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/they-can-t-touch-us-we-re-the-vikings-we-go-into-battle-without-armor/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [“But I knew one more thing. That people who denied who they were or where they had been were in the greatest danger.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/but-i-knew-one-more-thing-that-people-who-denied-who-they-were-or/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [“To dare to see is to steal fire from the Gods. This is mankind's destiny, the engine which fuels us as a race. 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Men who loaded trains, emergency…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/if-i-were-a-poet-that-s-what-i-d-write-about-people-who-worked-in-the/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [“what was the point in creating something that was so futile and so precious? everything beautiful was like that. a little bit of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/what-was-the-point-in-creating-something-that-was-so-futile-and-so/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [“We received our coloring from Norsemen. Hairy savages who hacked their gods to pieces and hung the flesh from trees. We are the ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/we-received-our-coloring-from-norsemen-hairy-savages-who-hacked-their/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [¨Loneliness is the human condition. Cultivate it. The way it tunnels into you allows your soul room to grow. Never expect to outgrow loneliness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/loneliness-is-the-human-condition-cultivate-it-the-way-it-tunnels/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [I was tired of men. Hanging in doorways, standing too close, men who made you love them then changed their minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/i-was-tired-of-men-hanging-in-doorways-standing-too-close-men-who/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) [Explore all 388 Janet Fitch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) ## More Atoms quotes > [If the polymer chain assumes a helicoidal conformation in the crystalline state, and if it does not contain asymmetric carbon atoms, it can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giulio-natta/if-the-polymer-chain-assumes-a-helicoidal-conformation-in-the/) [Giulio Natta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giulio-natta/) > [Physicist Isador Isaac Rabi, who won a Nobel Prize for inventing a technique that permitted scientists to probe the structure of atoms and molecules…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-saul-wurman/physicist-isador-isaac-rabi-who-won-a-nobel-prize-for-inventing-a/) [Richard Saul Wurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-saul-wurman/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [A monkey is unaware that atoms exist. Likewise, our brainpower may not stretch to the deepest aspects of reality. The bedrock nature of space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/a-monkey-is-unaware-that-atoms-exist-likewise-our-brainpower-may-not/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [ \[Decoding the human genome sequence\] is the most significant undertaking that we have mounted so far in an organized way in all of science.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/decoding-the-human-genome-sequence-is-the-most-significant/) [Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/) > [Though an atom is invisible, unthinkable, yet in it are the whole power and potency of the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/though-an-atom-is-invisible-unthinkable-yet-in-it-are-the-whole-power/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Traditional nationalism cannot survive the fissioning of the atom. One world or none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-chase/traditional-nationalism-cannot-survive-the-fissioning-of-the-atom-one/) [Stuart Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-chase/) > [I am not sure why, but I have been obsessed by the Atom Bomb ever since it first happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lanford-wilson/i-am-not-sure-why-but-i-have-been-obsessed-by-the-atom-bomb-ever/) [Lanford Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lanford-wilson/) > [History is the short trudge from Adam to atom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/history-is-the-short-trudge-from-adam-to-atom/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The dogma of the impossibility of determining the atomic constitution of substances, which until recently was advocated with such fervor by the most able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-korner/the-dogma-of-the-impossibility-of-determining-the-atomic-constitution/) [Wilhelm Korner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-korner/) > [I have never seen what to me seemed an atom of proof that there is a future life. And yet-I am inclined to expect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-seen-what-to-me-seemed-an-atom-of-proof-that-there-is-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“An atom is mostly made up of empty space. If you remove the empty space from every atom, the entire world's human population could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/weike-wang/an-atom-is-mostly-made-up-of-empty-space-if-you-remove-the-empty/) [Weike Wang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/weike-wang/) > [Nature is full of wonders; every atom is a standing miracle, and endowed with such qualities, as could not be impressed on it by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/nature-is-full-of-wonders-every-atom-is-a-standing-miracle-and/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [ “\[Think\] of an experience from your childhood. Something you remember clearly, something you can see, feel, maybe even smell, as if you were really… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-grand/think-of-an-experience-from-your-childhood-something-you-remember/) [Steve Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-grand/) > [The books remind us that way down deep in our hearts, part of us knows that we are creatures of light and we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/the-books-remind-us-that-way-down-deep-in-our-hearts-part-of-us-knows/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) [Browse all 852 Atoms quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atoms/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But that was the thing about zero. Its weakness. Even if zero had taken over the entire universe, the biggest fascist of all, one tiny gesture could deny it. One footprint, one atom. You didn't have to be a genius. 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