If you write a whole line of zeroes, it's still — nothing. Ayn Rand More Quotes by Ayn Rand More Quotes From Ayn Rand If capitalism had never existed, any honest humanitarian should have been struggling to invent it. But when you see men struggling to evade its existence, to misrepresent its nature, and to destroy its last remnants - you maybe sure that whatever their motives, love of man is not one of them. Ayn Rand struggleshould-havemen Romantic art is the fuel and the spark plug of a Man's soul. It's task is to set a soul on fire and never let it go out. Ayn Rand firemenart Man is the only living species that has the power to act as his own destroyer - and that is the way he has acted through most of his history. Ayn Rand objectivismmenway Well, I always know what I want. And when you know what you want--you go toward it. Sometimes you go very fast, and sometimes only an inch a year. Perhaps you feel happier when you go fast. I don't know. I've forgotten the difference long ago, because it really doesn't matter, so long as you move. Ayn Rand long-agoyearsmoving A leash is a rope with a noose at both ends. Ayn Rand leashesropeends If you tell an ugly woman that she is beautiful, you offer her the great homage of corrupting the concept of beauty. Ayn Rand uglybad-assbeautiful When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion...th at in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing-you may know that your society is doomed. Ayn Rand menorderneeds If one doesn't respect oneself one can have neither love nor respect for others. Ayn Rand ethicsrespectinspirational Living in a society, instead of on a desert island, does not relieve a man of the responsibility of supporting his own life. Ayn Rand responsibilityislandsmen The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live. Ayn Rand humorhappinesslife The source of the government's authority is “the consent of the governed.” This means that the government is not the ruler, but the servant or agent of the citizens; it means that the government as such has no rights except the rights delegated to it by the citizens for a specific purpose. Ayn Rand governmentrightsmean Do not let the hero in your soul perish. Ayn Rand recoveryheroinspirational Man cannot survive except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon. Animals obtain food by force. man had no claws, no fangs, no horns, no great strength of muscle. He must plant his food or hunt it. To plant, he needs a process of thought. To hunt, he needs weapons,and to make weapons - a process of thought. From this simplest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and we have comes from a single attribute of man -the function of his reasoning mind. Ayn Rand religiousanimalmen The right to life is the source of all rights -- and the right to property is their only implementation. Without property rights, no other rights are possible. Since man has to sustain his life by his own effort, the man who has no right to the product of his effort has no means to sustain his life. The man who produces while others dispose of his product, is a slave. Ayn Rand rightsmenmean I am opposed to all forms of control; I am for an absolute laissez faire, free, unregulated economy. I am for the separation of the state and economics, just as we had separation of state and church, which led to peaceful coexistence among different religions...so the same applies to economics. If you separate the government from economics, if you do not regulate production and trade, you will have peaceful cooperation, and harmony and justice among men. Ayn Rand peacefuljusticemen The entire history of science is a progression of exploded fallacies. Ayn Rand history-of-scienceprogressionfallacy Every man builds his world in his own image. He has the power to choose, but no power to escape the necessity of choice. Ayn Rand strengthpowermen Ask yourself why totalitarian dictatorships find it necessary to pour money and effort into propaganda for their own helpless, chained, gagged slaves, who have no means of protest or defense. The answer is that even the humblest peasant or the lowest savage would rise in blind rebellion, were he to realize that he is being immolated, not to some incomprehensible noble purpose, but to plain, naked human evil. Ayn Rand tyrantsevilmean That an error made on your own is safer than ten truths accepted on faith, because the first leaves you the means to correct it but the second destroys your capacity to distinguish truth from error. Ayn Rand errorsmeanfirsts If a drought strikes them, animals perish--man builds irrigation canals; if a flood strikes them, animals perish--man builds dams; if a carnivorous pack attacks them, animals perish--man writes the Constitution of the United States. Ayn Rand writinganimalmen
