Ayn Rand, née Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum / 19051982 / St. Petersburg, Russian Empire / Novelist, Essayist, Political Philosopher
Aspiration
Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists . . . it is real . . . it is possible . . . it’s yours.
Atlas Shrugged (1957).
Audacity
The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.
The Fountainhead (1943).
Civilization
Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage’s whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.
The Fountainhead (1943).
The Constitution
The government was set to protect man from criminals—and the Constitution was written to protect man from the government.
“The Nature of Government,” in The Virtue of Selfishness (1964).
Contradictions
Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.
Atlas Shrugged (1957).
Creativity
A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.
“The Nature of Government,” in The Virtue of Selfishness (1964).
Egoism
The man who does not value himself, cannot value anything or anyone.
The Romantic Manifesto (1969).
Man’s ego is the fountainhead of human progress.
The Fountainhead (1943).
To say “I love you” one must first be able to say the “I.”
The Fountainhead (1943).
Freedom
I guard my treasures: my thought, my will, my freedom. And the greatest of these is freedom.
The Fountainhead (1943).
Freedom (n.): To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.
The Fountainhead (1943).
Human Nature
I am, therefore I’ll think.
“The Objectivist Ethics,” in The Virtue of Selfishness (1964).
Man’s unique reward, however, is that while animals survive by adjusting themselves to their background, man survives by adjusting his background to himself.
The Fountainhead (1943).
In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title.
The Fountainhead (1943).
Do not lose your knowledge that man’s proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind, and a step that travels unlimited roads.
Atlas Shrugged (1957).
Man’s mind is his basic tool of survival.
Atlas Shrugged (1957).
The Individual
The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.
“Collectivized ‘Rights,’” in The Virtue of Selfishness (1964).
The man who lets a leader prescribe his course is a wreck being towed to the scrap heap.
The Fountainhead (1943).
The only power that can destroy a man is the power that he grants to others. Before you can control a man, you must control his self-esteem.
The Fountainhead (1943).
Money
Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.
Atlas Shrugged (1957).
Money is the barometer of a society’s virtue.
Atlas Shrugged (1957).
Morality
The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live.
Atlas Shrugged (1957).
I could die for you. But I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, live for you.
The Fountainhead (1943).
Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values.
Atlas Shrugged (1957).
The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it.
Atlas Shrugged (1957).
The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum. Whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles.
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (1966).
Opportunity
The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity.
“The Nature of Government,” in The Virtue of Selfishness (1964).
Reason
Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it. Do not count on them. Leave them alone.
Atlas Shrugged (1957).
Rights
Individual rights are the means of subordinating society to moral law.
“Man’s Rights,” in The Virtue of Selfishness (1964).
A government is the most dangerous threat to man’s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims.
“The Nature of Government,” in The Virtue of Selfishness (1964).
The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.
Atlas Shrugged (1957).
Truth
The truth is not for all men but only for those who seek it.
Atlas Shrugged (1957).
The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody has decided not to see.
The Fountainhead (1943).
Work
There is no such thing as a lousy job—only lousy men who don’t care to do it.
The Fountainhead (1943).