--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are rational creatures: Our virtue and…" description: "\"We are rational creatures: Our virtue and perfection is to love reason, or rather to love order.\" — Nicolas Malebranche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/nicolas-malebranche-23473_character_we-are-rational-creatures-our-virtue-and_2128279.png" --- # We are rational creatures: Our virtue and perfection is to… ![“We are rational creatures: Our virtue and perfection is to love reason, or rather to love order.” quote by Nicolas Malebranche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/nicolas-malebranche-23473_character_we-are-rational-creatures-our-virtue-and_2128279.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/nicolas-malebranche-23473_character_we-are-rational-creatures-our-virtue-and_2128279.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/nicolas-malebranche-23473_character_we-are-rational-creatures-our-virtue-and_2128279.png) > “We are rational creatures: Our virtue and perfection is to love reason, or rather to love order.” [Nicolas Malebranche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-malebranche/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Argues that true virtue lies in loving rational order rather than mere emotion. **In simple terms:** Virtue is loving reason and order. Key Takeaway Cultivate a love for rational structure. Themes philosophy virtue reason order Mood thoughtful introspective philosophical Type theoretical ethical inspirational When to use this quote - academic study - ethical decision making - personal discipline - organizational design Key Concepts rationalism ethical theory metaphysics Questions to Reflect On - How does reason guide your moral choices? - Can emotion and reason coexist in virtue? A Different Perspective May discount emotional intelligence's role in virtue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfection/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [So that, in effect, religion, which should most distinguish us from beasts, and ought most peculiarly to elevate us, as rational creatures, above brutes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-locke/so-that-in-effect-religion-which-should-most-distinguish-us-from/) [John Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-locke/) > [Respect for the dignity of others includes treating them as rational creatures capable of being persuadad by rational argument, even in the face of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-john-neuhaus/respect-for-the-dignity-of-others-includes-treating-them-as-rational/) [Richard John Neuhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-john-neuhaus/) > [“The Men who cannot deny us to be rational creatures, wou'd have us justify their irrational opinion and treatment of us, by descending to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-sophia-fermor/the-men-who-cannot-deny-us-to-be-rational-creatures-wou-d-have-us/) [Lady Sophia Fermor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-sophia-fermor/) > [My own sex, I hope, will excuse me, if I treat them like rational creatures, instead of flattering their fascinating graces, and viewing them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/my-own-sex-i-hope-will-excuse-me-if-i-treat-them-like-rational-2/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [Who should know better than a cosmetician that human beings are less than rational creatures?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brunner/who-should-know-better-than-a-cosmetician-that-human-beings-are-less/) [John Brunner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brunner/) > [People in the voting booth are not purely rational creatures any more than they're purely rational creatures outside the voting booth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/people-in-the-voting-booth-are-not-purely-rational-creatures-any-more/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [It is quite deplorable to see how many rational creatures, or at least who are thought so, mistake suffering for sanctity, and think a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-lady-morgan/it-is-quite-deplorable-to-see-how-many-rational-creatures-or-at-least/) [Sydney, Lady Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-lady-morgan/) > [“Human beings are rational creatures, in the descriptive though not always the normative sense of the word rational-and thus every impulse we form is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-r-graver/human-beings-are-rational-creatures-in-the-descriptive-though-not/) Margaret R. 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If I were a nightingale, I would do the nightingale's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/what-else-can-i-do-a-lame-old-man-but-sing-hymns-to-god-if-i-were-a/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) ## More by Nicolas Malebranche > [I am not my own light unto myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-malebranche/i-am-not-my-own-light-unto-myself/) [Nicolas Malebranche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-malebranche/) > [I am unable, when I turn to myself, to recognize any of my faculties or my capacities. The inner sensation which I have of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-malebranche/i-am-unable-when-i-turn-to-myself-to-recognize-any-of-my-faculties-or/) [Nicolas Malebranche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-malebranche/) > [We see things in this material world, wherein our bodies dwell, only because our mind through its attention lives in another world, only because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-malebranche/we-see-things-in-this-material-world-wherein-our-bodies-dwell-only/) [Nicolas Malebranche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-malebranche/) > [In this connection, faith and experience teach us many truths by means of the short-cut of authority and by the proofs of very pleasant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-malebranche/in-this-connection-faith-and-experience-teach-us-many-truths-by-means/) [Nicolas Malebranche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-malebranche/) > [All creatures are united to God alone in an immediate union. 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