--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everyone has a natural right to choose…" description: "\"Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely gives him comfortable subsistence.\" — Thomas Jefferson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edd/thomas-jefferson-43_career_everyone-has-a-natural-right-to-choose-t_2350711.jpg" --- # Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in… ![“Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely gives him comfortable subsistence.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edd/thomas-jefferson-43_career_everyone-has-a-natural-right-to-choose-t_2350711.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edd/thomas-jefferson-43_career_everyone-has-a-natural-right-to-choose-t_2350711.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edd/thomas-jefferson-43_career_everyone-has-a-natural-right-to-choose-t_2350711.jpg) > “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely gives him comfortable subsistence.” [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People should be free to pursue occupations that provide a comfortable livelihood. **In simple terms:** Choose a job that supports a decent life. Key Takeaway Seek work that balances income and satisfaction. Themes freedom livelihood choice Mood reflective pragmatic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career counseling - entrepreneurship - job market analysis Key Concepts economic theory individual rights Questions to Reflect On - What defines a comfortable subsistence for you? - Can all vocations provide comfort? A Different Perspective Economic constraints may limit true freedom of choice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Career](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/career/) [Choose Vocation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choose-vocation-1018087/) [Comfortable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfortable/) [Comfortable Subsistence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfortable-subsistence-3670837/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Right Choose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-choose-352577/) [Subsistence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subsistence/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Vocation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vocation/) [Vocation Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vocation-life-553259/) ## Related quotes > [Ere long the most valuable of all arts will be the art of deriving a comfortable subsistence from the smallest area of soil. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/ere-long-the-most-valuable-of-all-arts-will-be-the-art-of-deriving-a/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The truth is I would do my job for free! I love it every day. If you can possibly choose a vocation that's an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-louis-gates/the-truth-is-i-would-do-my-job-for-free-i-love-it-every-day-if-you-2/) [Henry Louis Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-louis-gates/) > [The truth is I would do my job for free! I love it every day. If you can possibly choose a vocation that's an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-louis-gates/the-truth-is-i-would-do-my-job-for-free-i-love-it-every-day-if-you/) [Henry Louis Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-louis-gates/) > [Dostoevski was on to something. You are the path you choose. You are what your vocation is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-ribisi/dostoevski-was-on-to-something-you-are-the-path-you-choose-you-are/) [Giovanni Ribisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-ribisi/) > [To be a mother is a woman's greatest vocation in life. She is a partner with God. No being has a position of such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/to-be-a-mother-is-a-woman-s-greatest-vocation-in-life-she-is-a/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [Your vocation in life is where your greatest joy meets the world's greatest need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/your-vocation-in-life-is-where-your-greatest-joy-meets-the-world-s/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [Teaching is supposed to be a vocation for life - not a lifelong vacation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-hartley-brewer/teaching-is-supposed-to-be-a-vocation-for-life-not-a-lifelong-vacation/) [Julia Hartley-Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-hartley-brewer/) > [“There is something in the depths of our being that hungers for wholeness and finality. Because we are made for eternal life, we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/there-is-something-in-the-depths-of-our-being-that-hungers-for/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [My ultimate vocation in life is to be an irritant, someone who disrupts the daily drag of life just enough to leave the victim…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elvis-costello/my-ultimate-vocation-in-life-is-to-be-an-irritant-someone-who/) [Elvis Costello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elvis-costello/) > [All through your life, you'll be faced with making a decision between two things-choose the one that is right. If they are both right,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/all-through-your-life-you-ll-be-faced-with-making-a-decision-between/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [And Botany I rank with the most valuable sciences, whether we consider its subjects as furnishing the principal subsistence of life to man and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/and-botany-i-rank-with-the-most-valuable-sciences-whether-we-consider/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [My ultimate vocation in life is to be an irritant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elvis-costello/my-ultimate-vocation-in-life-is-to-be-an-irritant/) [Elvis Costello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elvis-costello/) > [Finding and creating your life's work, even if it is entirely different from what you have done most of your life, will bring you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-kimbro/finding-and-creating-your-life-s-work-even-if-it-is-entirely/) [Dennis Kimbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-kimbro/) > [...the science of calculation also is indispensable as far as the extraction of the square and cube roots: Algebra as far as the quadratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-science-of-calculation-also-is-indispensable-as-far-as-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, therein lies your vocation. These two, your talents and the needs of the world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/where-your-talents-and-the-needs-of-the-world-cross-therein-lies-your/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## More by Thomas Jefferson > [A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-man-has-a-right-to-use-a-saw-an-axe-a-plane-separately-may-he-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [ \[States and the Federal government are\] coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole... The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/states-and-the-federal-government-are-coordinate-departments-of-one/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-for-freedom-of-religion-and-against-all-maneuvers-to-bring-about/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/single-acts-of-tyranny-may-be-ascribed-to-the-accidental-opinion-of-a/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“Perceiving the order of nature to be that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue, I am willing to hope it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/perceiving-the-order-of-nature-to-be-that-individual-happiness-shall/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy, and not confidence, which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/free-government-is-founded-in-jealousy-and-not-in-confidence-it-is/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Though you cannot see, when you take one step, what will be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain dealing, and never fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/though-you-cannot-see-when-you-take-one-step-what-will-be-the-next/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-well-informed-citizenry-is-the-best-defense-against-tyranny/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The two principles on which our conduct towards the Indians should be founded are justice and fear. After the injuries we have done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-two-principles-on-which-our-conduct-towards-the-indians-should-be/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Knowledge is power...knowled ge is safety...knowle dge is happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/knowledge-is-power-knowled-ge-is-safety-knowle-dge-is-happiness/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There is... an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/there-is-an-artificial-aristocracy-founded-on-wealth-and-birth/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Nothing but free argument, raillery and even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/nothing-but-free-argument-raillery-and-even-ridicule-will-preserve/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/when-the-people-are-afraid-of-the-government-that-s-tyranny-but-when/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/we-hold-these-truths-to-be-self-evident-that-all-men-are-created/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) [Explore all 2,098 Thomas Jefferson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## More Career quotes > [“Don’t allow anyone to pressure you into taking a job in a field that doesn’t feel right in your gut. You are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-james/don-t-allow-anyone-to-pressure-you-into-taking-a-job-in-a-field-that/) [Alison James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-james/) > [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything, really. There must be love and a vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessye-norman/one-needs-more-than-ambition-and-talent-to-make-a-success-of-anything/) [Jessye Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessye-norman/) > [There are so many things you can do with your life, you can go to school and study toward your career, you can become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simphiwe-scientist-dumi/there-are-so-many-things-you-can-do-with-your-life-you-can-go-to/) [Simphiwe Scientist Dumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simphiwe-scientist-dumi/) > [I always knew I wanted to have a good career, so I made it happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chord-overstreet/i-always-knew-i-wanted-to-have-a-good-career-so-i-made-it-happen/) [Chord Overstreet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chord-overstreet/) > [I am a very big fan of Brian Eno, of his work as an artist and making his music, and as a producer. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rostam-batmanglij/i-am-a-very-big-fan-of-brian-eno-of-his-work-as-an-artist-and-making/) [Rostam Batmanglij](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rostam-batmanglij/) > [If I can beat a proven champion like Canelo, that will take my career to a different level.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennady-golovkin/if-i-can-beat-a-proven-champion-like-canelo-that-will-take-my-career/) [Gennady Golovkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennady-golovkin/) > [My non-career. My excuse for a career? Honestly, I never think about the word 'career.' I've had managers, the minute they say it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/my-non-career-my-excuse-for-a-career-honestly-i-never-think-about-the/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [“The vocation of a man lies in his vision.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-vocation-of-a-man-lies-in-his-vision/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I started off as a model maker, so the first part of my career was a model maker and then a motion control camera…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-knoll/i-started-off-as-a-model-maker-so-the-first-part-of-my-career-was-a/) [John Knoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-knoll/) > [Growing up I did commercials and things like that, but nothing serious. As I got older, my family is really hardcore into academics. 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