If there are degrees of evil, it is hard to say who is more contemptible: the brute who assumes the right to force the mind of others or the moral degenerate who grants to others the right to force his mind. John Galt More Quotes by John Galt More Quotes From John Galt I want every fan of Rand to hear [Polaha] say the classic Galt phrase: “I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine. John Galt phrases fans men Government power is always abused by seizing and perverting the law. And with few exceptions, government always determines what is law. John Galt abuse government law All property and all forms of wealth are produced by man's mind and labor. John Galt wealth mind men Man has been called a rational being, but rationality is a matter of choice-and the alternative his nature offers him is: rational being or suicidal animal. Man has to be man-by choice; he has to hold his life as a value-by choice; he has to learn to sustain it-by choice; he has to discover the values it requires and practice his virtues-by choice. A code of values accepted by choice is a code of morality. John Galt suicidal animal men Evil is impotent and has no power but that which we let it extort from us. John Galt evil The self you have betrayed is your mind; self-esteem is reliance on one’s power to think. The ego you seek, that essential “you” which you cannot express or define, is not your emotions or inarticulate dreams, but your intellect, that judge of your supreme tribunal whom you’ve impeached in order to drift at the mercy of any stray shyster you describe as your “feeling.” John Galt self-esteem dream thinking Man's mind is his basic tool of survival. Life is given to him, survival is not. John Galt survival mind men There can be no causeless love or any sort of causeless emotion. An emotion is a response to a fact of reality, an estimate dictated by your standards. John Galt emotion reality facts A trader is a man who earns what he gets and does not give or take the undeserved. John Galt doe giving men Pride is the recognition of the fact that you are your own highest value and, like all of man's values, it has to be earned-that of any achievements open to you, the one that makes all others possible is the creation of your own character-that your character, your actions, your desires, your emotions are the products of the premises held by your mind. John Galt pride character men Justice is the recognition of the fact that you cannot fake the character of men as you cannot fake the character of nature, that you must judge all men as conscientiously as you judge inanimate objects, with the same respect for truth, with the same incorruptible vision, by as pure and as rational a process of identification-that every man must be judged for what he is and treated accordingly. John Galt justice character men I seek no values by means of evil, nor do I surrender my values to evil. John Galt surrender evil mean Man's mind is his basic tool of survival. Life is given to him, survival is not. His body is given to him, its sustenance is not. His mind is given to him, its content is not. To remain alive, he must act, and before he can act he must know the nature and purpose of his action...To remain alive, he must think. John Galt survival men thinking If enjoyment is a value, why is it moral when experienced by others, but immoral when experienced by you?... Why is it immoral for your to desire, but moral for others to do so? Why is it immoral to produce a value and keep it, but moral to give it away? John Galt moral desire giving No matter how vast your knowledge or how modest, it is your own mind that has to acquire it. John Galt modest matter mind As there can be no causeless wealth, so there can be no causeless love or any sort of causeless emotion. John Galt wealth emotion Whatever he was-that robot in the Garden of Eden, who existed without mind, without values, without labor, without love-he was not man. John Galt garden eden men Discard the protective rags of that vice which you called a virtue: humility. Learn to value yourself, which means: to FIGHT for your happiness, and when you learn that pride is the sum of all virtues, you will learn to live like a man. John Galt fighting humility mean It's not that I don't suffer, it's that I know the unimportance of suffering. John Galt suffering knows The cloven-foot of self-interest was now and then to be seen aneath the robe of public principle. John Galt principles self feet
