--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...there is no absolute scale of size in…" description: "\"...there is no absolute scale of size in nature, and the small may be as important, or more so than the great.\" — Oliver Heaviside" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c90/oliver-heaviside-26165_absolutes_there-is-no-absolute-scale-of-size-in-na_151513.jpg" --- # ...there is no absolute scale of size in nature, and the… ![“...there is no absolute scale of size in nature, and the small may be as important, or more so than the great.” quote by Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c90/oliver-heaviside-26165_absolutes_there-is-no-absolute-scale-of-size-in-na_151513.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c90/oliver-heaviside-26165_absolutes_there-is-no-absolute-scale-of-size-in-na_151513.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c90/oliver-heaviside-26165_absolutes_there-is-no-absolute-scale-of-size-in-na_151513.jpg) > “...there is no absolute scale of size in nature, and the small may be as important, or more so than the great.” [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Small elements can be as crucial as large ones, challenging assumptions about size and importance. **In simple terms:** Small things matter as much as big ones. Key Takeaway Respect the small. Themes scale importance nature perspective Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - environmental policy - product design - urban planning - scientific research Key Concepts relative size interdependence ecosystem balance Questions to Reflect On - What small factors are overlooked in your field? - How does scale affect decision making? A Different Perspective Focusing only on the large can miss critical details. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolute Scale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolute-scale-1684013/) [Absolutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nature Small](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-small-228203/) [Scales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scales/) [Size](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/size/) [Size Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/size-nature-1684012/) [Small](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small/) [Small Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-important-1684011/) ## Related quotes > [When we do not know a person - and also when we do - we have to judge his size by the size and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/when-we-do-not-know-a-person-and-also-when-we-do-we-have-to-judge-his/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [People have value and are important. Big or small they are important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-ron-hubbard/people-have-value-and-are-important-big-or-small-they-are-important/) [L. Ron Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-ron-hubbard/) > [Perspective gives us the ability to accurately contrast the large with the small, and the important with the less important. Without it we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sununu/perspective-gives-us-the-ability-to-accurately-contrast-the-large/) [John Sununu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sununu/) > [“There came a moment in this journey when I freely realized that the lives most of lead are small. Important, but small. 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The weight of it is crushing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anderson-cooper/each-child-s-story-is-worthy-of-telling-there-shouldn-t-be-a-sliding/) [Anderson Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anderson-cooper/) > [Life's unfairness is not irrevocable; we can help balance the scales for others, if not always for ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-h-humphrey/life-s-unfairness-is-not-irrevocable-we-can-help-balance-the-scales/) [Hubert H. Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-h-humphrey/) ## More by Oliver Heaviside > [We do not dwell in the Palace of Truth. But, as was mentioned to me not long since, "There is a time coming when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-heaviside/we-do-not-dwell-in-the-palace-of-truth-but-as-was-mentioned-to-me-not/) [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) > [Mathematics is of two kinds, Rigorous and Physical. The former is Narrow: the latter Bold and Broad. To have to stop to formulate rigorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-heaviside/mathematics-is-of-two-kinds-rigorous-and-physical-the-former-is/) [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) > [Why should I refuse a good dinner simply because I don't understand the digestive processes involved?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-heaviside/why-should-i-refuse-a-good-dinner-simply-because-i-don-t-understand/) [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) > [It is shocking that young people should be addling their brains over mere logical subtleties in Euclid's Elements, trying to understand the proof of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-heaviside/it-is-shocking-that-young-people-should-be-addling-their-brains-over/) [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) > [“ Ohm found that the results could be summed up in such a simple law that he who runs may read it, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-heaviside/ohm-found-that-the-results-could-be-summed-up-in-such-a-simple-law/) [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) > [Theory is the essence of facts. 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May they live for ever, and never be forgot, if only to remind us that the science of electromagnetics, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-heaviside/electric-and-magnetic-forces-may-they-live-for-ever-and-never-be/) [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) > [The best result of mathematics is to be able to do without it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-heaviside/the-best-result-of-mathematics-is-to-be-able-to-do-without-it/) [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) > [Logic can be patient, for it is eternal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-heaviside/logic-can-be-patient-for-it-is-eternal/) [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) > [Facts are of not much use, considered as facts. They bewilder by their number and their apparent incoherency. Let them be digested into theory,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-heaviside/facts-are-of-not-much-use-considered-as-facts-they-bewilder-by-their/) [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) > [Ohm (a distinguished mathematician, be it noted) brought into order a host of puzzling facts connecting electromotive force and electric current in conductors, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-heaviside/ohm-a-distinguished-mathematician-be-it-noted-brought-into-order-a/) [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) > [“The following story is true. There was a little boy, and his father said, “Do try to be like other people. Don’t frown.” And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-heaviside/the-following-story-is-true-there-was-a-little-boy-and-his-father/) [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) > [Now, in the development of our knowledge of the workings of Nature out of the tremendously complex assemblage of phenomena presented to the scientific…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-heaviside/now-in-the-development-of-our-knowledge-of-the-workings-of-nature-out/) [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) [Explore all 22 Oliver Heaviside quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) ## More Absolutes quotes > [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. 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I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/those-are-decisions-only-the-lord-will-make-i-believe-the-love-of-god/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [“The Gods know what it is to be eternal, and they love to toy with mortals who use absolutes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/the-gods-know-what-it-is-to-be-eternal-and-they-love-to-toy-with/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/anarchy-is-the-stepping-stone-to-absolute-power/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [I was asked the other day if I would be interested in the Nobel Prize, but I think that for me it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-was-asked-the-other-day-if-i-would-be-interested-in-the-nobel-prize/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [The only "definitive truth" for Buddhism is the absolute negation of any one truth as the Definitive Truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-only-definitive-truth-for-buddhism-is-the-absolute-negation-of/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [The nature of the Absolute is neither perceptible nor imperceptible; and with phenomena it is just the same. 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