--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The order of nature [is] that individual…" description: "\"The order of nature [is] that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue.\" — Thomas Jefferson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b81/thomas-jefferson-43_character_the-order-of-nature-is-that-individual-h_1022487.jpg" --- # The order of nature \[is\] that individual happiness shall… ![“The order of nature [is] that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b81/thomas-jefferson-43_character_the-order-of-nature-is-that-individual-h_1022487.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b81/thomas-jefferson-43_character_the-order-of-nature-is-that-individual-h_1022487.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b81/thomas-jefferson-43_character_the-order-of-nature-is-that-individual-h_1022487.jpg) > “The order of nature \[is\] that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue.” [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. True happiness links to virtue; personal well‑being depends on moral conduct. **In simple terms:** Happiness comes from being virtuous. Key Takeaway Cultivate virtue for lasting happiness. Themes virtue happiness ethics Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - personal development - education - community building Key Concepts moral philosophy human flourishing Questions to Reflect On - Can virtue exist without external comfort? - How does society reward virtue? A Different Perspective Virtue alone may not guarantee happiness in adverse circumstances. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Individual happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual-happiness/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practice/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [“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/) > [All things are parts of one single system, which is called nature; the individual life is good when it is in harmony with nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeno-of-citium/all-things-are-parts-of-one-single-system-which-is-called-nature-the/) [Zeno of Citium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeno-of-citium/) > [“Just as the migratory and nest-building instincts of birds were never learnt or acquired individually, man brings with him at birth the ground-plan of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-stein/just-as-the-migratory-and-nest-building-instincts-of-birds-were-never/) Murray Stein > [The objects of this primary education . . . would be . . . to form the statesmen, legislators and judges, on whom public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-objects-of-this-primary-education-would-be-to-form-the-statesmen/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Debt and revolution are inseparable as cause and effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/debt-and-revolution-are-inseparable-as-cause-and-effect/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [We are firmly convinced, and we act on that conviction, that with nations as with individuals our interests soundly calculated will ever be found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/we-are-firmly-convinced-and-we-act-on-that-conviction-that-with/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [With nations as with individuals our interests soundly calculated will ever be found inseparable from our moral duties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/with-nations-as-with-individuals-our-interests-soundly-calculated/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [It is the function of science to discover the existence of a general reign of order in nature and to find the causes governing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dmitri-mendeleev/it-is-the-function-of-science-to-discover-the-existence-of-a-general/) [Dmitri Mendeleev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dmitri-mendeleev/) > [People think that in order for nature to be sacred, you have to separate yourself from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-potter/people-think-that-in-order-for-nature-to-be-sacred-you-have-to/) [Dean Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-potter/) > [The whole order of nature evinces a progressive march towards a higher life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-whole-order-of-nature-evinces-a-progressive-march-towards-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Man, as the minister and interpreter of nature, is limited in act and understanding by his observation of the order of nature; neither his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/man-as-the-minister-and-interpreter-of-nature-is-limited-in-act-and/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [“To upset the order of nature, and even more the order of God, who, for us, is more natural than nature itself, is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonin-sertillanges/to-upset-the-order-of-nature-and-even-more-the-order-of-god-who-for/) [Antonin Sertillanges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonin-sertillanges/) > [“Every end is a beginning. Every stop a fresh start. All in order, as its nature, like the beating of my heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-t-moore/every-end-is-a-beginning-every-stop-a-fresh-start-all-in-order-as-its/) F.T. Moore > [But it seems to me equally obvious that the orderliness is not all-pervasive. There are streaks of order to be found among the chaos,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-david-ritchie/but-it-seems-to-me-equally-obvious-that-the-orderliness-is-not-all/) [Arthur David Ritchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-david-ritchie/) > [. . . to know the order of nature, and regard the universe as orderly is the highest function of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/to-know-the-order-of-nature-and-regard-the-universe-as-orderly-is-the/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) ## 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 Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. 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But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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