---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Such is the economy of nature,\" Thomas…"
description: "\"“Such is the economy of nature,\" Thomas Jefferson wrote, \"that no instance can be produced, of her having permitted any one race of her animals to beco..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_history_such-is-the-economy-of-nature-thomas-jef_1000852.png"
---

#  Such is the economy of nature," Thomas Jefferson wrote…

![“Such is the economy of nature,&quot; Thomas Jefferson wrote, &quot;that no instance can be produced, of her having permitted any one race of her animals to become extinct; of her having formed any link in her great work so weak as to be broken.&quot; When, as President, he dispatched Meriwether Lewis and William…” quote by Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_history_such-is-the-economy-of-nature-thomas-jef_1000852.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_history_such-is-the-economy-of-nature-thomas-jef_1000852.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_history_such-is-the-economy-of-nature-thomas-jef_1000852.png)

> ““Such is the economy of nature," Thomas Jefferson wrote, "that no instance can be produced, of her having permitted any one race of her animals to become extinct; of her having formed any link in her great work so weak as to be broken." When, as President, he dispatched Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to the Northwest, Jefferson hoped that they would come upon live mastodons roaming the region.””

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Nature’s balance prevents any single species from dominating, underscoring ecological interdependence.

**In simple terms:** Nature maintains balance among species.

Key Takeaway

Protect biodiversity.

Themes

environment ecology balance

Mood

concerned urgent

Type

environmental educational

When to use this quote

- wildlife management
- climate policy
- habitat restoration

Key Concepts

species interdependence conservation

Questions to Reflect On

- How can we safeguard ecosystems?
- What role do humans play in nature’s economy?

A Different Perspective

Human impact can disrupt this balance.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Animals Extinct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals-extinct-2111581/) [Economy Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy-nature-268268/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Jefferson Hoped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jefferson-hoped-2111580/) [Jefferson Wrote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jefferson-wrote-1407150/) [Meriwether Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meriwether-lewis-224473/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Thomas jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thomas-jefferson/) [William Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/william-clark-223072/)

## Related quotes

> [I did a story for the Geographic on Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, and Stephen Ambrose was the writer. He said, "I've got the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/i-did-a-story-for-the-geographic-on-meriwether-lewis-and-william/)

[Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/)

> [Let's not be too quick to blame the human race for everything. A great many species of animals became extinct before man ever appeared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-cuppy/let-s-not-be-too-quick-to-blame-the-human-race-for-everything-a-great/)

[Will Cuppy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-cuppy/)

> [Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, believes that in 25 years, somewhere between 75 and 80 percent of all the species…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaylord-nelson/dr-s-dillon-ripley-secretary-of-the-smithsonian-institute-believes/)

[Gaylord Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaylord-nelson/)

> [“Whilst I viewed those mountains, I felt a secret pleasure in finding myself so near the head of the--heretofore conceived--boundless Missouri. But when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bakeless/whilst-i-viewed-those-mountains-i-felt-a-secret-pleasure-in-finding/)

[John Bakeless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bakeless/)

> [“George Rogers Clark (1752-1818) was the highest ranking military officer on the western frontier in the American Revolution.  He was also the brother of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-l-harrison/george-rogers-clark-1752-1818-was-the-highest-ranking-military/)

[Steven L. Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-l-harrison/)

> [Meriwether Lewis's last words were, 'I am not a coward, but I am so strong. So hard to die.' I don't doubt that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/meriwether-lewis-s-last-words-were-i-am-not-a-coward-but-i-am-so/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [“We were now about to penetrate a country at least two thousand miles in width, on which the foot of civilized man had never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bakeless/we-were-now-about-to-penetrate-a-country-at-least-two-thousand-miles/)

[John Bakeless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bakeless/)

> [“As the leader of the international Human Genome Project, which had labored mightily over more than a decade to reveal this DNA sequence, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-s-collins/as-the-leader-of-the-international-human-genome-project-which-had/)

[Francis S. Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-s-collins/)

> [“See,' said (Liberty Hyde) Bailey, 'how the leaves of this small plant stand forth extended to bathe themselves in the light. ... THese leaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lord/see-said-liberty-hyde-bailey-how-the-leaves-of-this-small-plant-stand/)

[Russell Lord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lord/)

> [Without God the economy is only economy, nature is nothing more than a deposit of material, the family only a contract, life nothing more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giampaolo-crepaldi/without-god-the-economy-is-only-economy-nature-is-nothing-more-than-a/)

[Giampaolo Crepaldi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giampaolo-crepaldi/)

> [Man is a great blunderer going about in the woods, and there is no other except the bear makes so much noise. ... The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/man-is-a-great-blunderer-going-about-in-the-woods-and-there-is-no/)

[Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/)

> [Our own economy tells us to take as much as we can get, right? Our own economy says, you're going to be the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-shadyac/our-own-economy-tells-us-to-take-as-much-as-we-can-get-right-our-own/)

[Tom Shadyac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-shadyac/)

> [Expect Nature to answer to your human values as to come into your house and sit in a chair. The economy of nature, its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-beston/expect-nature-to-answer-to-your-human-values-as-to-come-into-your/)

[Henry Beston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-beston/)

> [In the economy of nature nothing is ever lost. I cannot belive that the soul of man shall prove the one exception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-stratton-porter/in-the-economy-of-nature-nothing-is-ever-lost-i-cannot-belive-that/)

[Gene Stratton-Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-stratton-porter/)

> [So great is the economy of nature, that most flowers which are fertilised by crepuscular or nocturnal insects emit their odour chiefly or exclusively…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/so-great-is-the-economy-of-nature-that-most-flowers-which-are/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

## More by Elizabeth Kolbert

> [“The size of the greenhouse forcing is estimated, at this point, to be 2.5 w/m2. A miniature Christmas light gives off about four tenths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/the-size-of-the-greenhouse-forcing-is-estimated-at-this-point-to-be-2/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

> [You've got to do everything, everything's got to be pointing in the same direction and you've got to really turn this whole economic engine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/you-ve-got-to-do-everything-everything-s-got-to-be-pointing-in-the/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

> [Well in the scientific there is virtually no debate over certain things. For example, that we are changing the world. Humans are changing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/well-in-the-scientific-there-is-virtually-no-debate-over-certain/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

> [Humans will eventually become extinct. People treat that as a radical thing to say. But the fossil record shows us that everything eventually becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/humans-will-eventually-become-extinct-people-treat-that-as-a-radical/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

> [“A sign in the Hall of Biodiversity offers a quote from the Stanford ecologist Paul Ehrlich: IN PUSHING OTHER SPECIES TO EXTINCTION, HUMANITY IS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/a-sign-in-the-hall-of-biodiversity-offers-a-quote-from-the-stanford/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

> [We have all this Paleolithic art that suggests that our ancestors really venerated animals and that they depended on wild animals to survive -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/we-have-all-this-paleolithic-art-that-suggests-that-our-ancestors/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

> [“Crutzen wrote up his idea in a short essay, “Geology of Mankind,” that ran in Nature. “It seems appropriate to assign the term ‘Anthropocene’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/crutzen-wrote-up-his-idea-in-a-short-essay-geology-of-mankind-that/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

> [“Modern humans arrived in Europe around forty thousand years ago, and again and again, the archaeological record shows, as soon as they made their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/modern-humans-arrived-in-europe-around-forty-thousand-years-ago-and/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

> [It seems that the Neanderthal DNA that modern Europeans and Asians (and also Native Americans and basically all non-African people) are carrying around is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/it-seems-that-the-neanderthal-dna-that-modern-europeans-and-asians/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

> [What are the Chinese doing, what are we doing, what are - so we need, both the developed world and the developing world, really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/what-are-the-chinese-doing-what-are-we-doing-what-are-so-we-need-both/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

> [“As the effects of global warming become more and more difficult to ignore, will we react by finally fashioning a global response? Or will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/as-the-effects-of-global-warming-become-more-and-more-difficult-to/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

> [As best as can be determined, the world is now warmer than it has been at any point in the last two millennia, and,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/as-best-as-can-be-determined-the-world-is-now-warmer-than-it-has-been/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

> [I traveled really to amazing places. I went to the Great Barrier Reef, I went to the Amazon, I went to the Andes, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/i-traveled-really-to-amazing-places-i-went-to-the-great-barrier-reef/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

> [“At the Biesbosch nature center, I met up with a water-ministry official named Eelke Turkstra. Turkstra runs a program called Ruimte voor de Rivier…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/at-the-biesbosch-nature-center-i-met-up-with-a-water-ministry/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

> [“Darwin’s familiarity with human-caused extinction is also clear from On the Origin of Species. In one of the many passages in which he heaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/darwin-s-familiarity-with-human-caused-extinction-is-also-clear-from/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

[Explore all 90 Elizabeth Kolbert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

## More History quotes

> [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/)

[Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/)

> [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/)

[Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/)

> [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another day just like today, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/in-the-entire-history-of-the-universe-let-alone-in-your-own-history/)

[Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/)

> [The NBA is my history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-hardaway/the-nba-is-my-history/)

[Penny Hardaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-hardaway/)

> [History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/)

[Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/)

> [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/)

[John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/)

> [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/)

[Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/)

> [Things live and die, and then someone processes them into edible portions. This is a complete telling of the story, 'Food.' The basic plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/things-live-and-die-and-then-someone-processes-them-into-edible/)

[David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/)

> [History is a certain way, but you just change the point of view a little bit, and you discover a whole new side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/history-is-a-certain-way-but-you-just-change-the-point-of-view-a/)

[Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/)

> [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/)

[Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/)

> [Today is a reality, tomorrow's a promise, and yesterday's history!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-blanks/today-is-a-reality-tomorrow-s-a-promise-and-yesterday-s-history/)

[Billy Blanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-blanks/)

> [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/)

[C-DASH](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-dash/)

> [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/)

[Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/)

> [“To those great geniuses now in petticoats, who shall write novels for the beloved reader's children, these men and things will be as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/to-those-great-geniuses-now-in-petticoats-who-shall-write-novels-for/)

[William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/)

[Browse all 27,263 History quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Such is the economy of nature,\" Thomas Jefferson wrote, \"that no instance can be produced, of her having permitted any one race of her animals to become extinct; of her having formed any link in her great work so weak as to be broken.\" When, as President, he dispatched Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to the Northwest, Jefferson hoped that they would come upon live mastodons roaming the region.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Elizabeth Kolbert"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/such-is-the-economy-of-nature-thomas-jefferson-wrote-that-no-instance/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "History"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/such-is-the-economy-of-nature-thomas-jefferson-wrote-that-no-instance/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_history_such-is-the-economy-of-nature-thomas-jef_1000852.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_history_such-is-the-economy-of-nature-thomas-jef_1000852.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_history_such-is-the-economy-of-nature-thomas-jef_1000852.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Such is the economy of nature,\" Thomas Jefferson wrote, \"that no instance can be produced, of her having…” — Elizabeth Kolbert",
                "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": "Elizabeth Kolbert",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Such is the economy of nature,\"...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/such-is-the-economy-of-nature-thomas-jefferson-wrote-that-no-instance/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/such-is-the-economy-of-nature-thomas-jefferson-wrote-that-no-instance/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
