Litigants obey the verdict of a tribunal solely on the premise that there is an objective rule of conduct, which they both accept.

Ayn Rand

Categorized in : Accepting Premises Tribunals

Man—every man—is an end in himself, not a means to the ends of others; he must live for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself; he must work for his rational self-interest, with the achievement of his own happiness as the highest moral purpose of his life.

sacrifice inspirational mean

In all proper relationships there is no sacrifice of anyone to an... by Ayn Rand

In all proper relationships there is no sacrifice of anyone to anyone.

fountainhead sacrifice

In western civilization, the period ruled by mysticism is known as the 'Dark Ages' and the 'Middle Ages'. I will assume that you know the nature of that period and the state of human existence in those ages. The Renaissance broke the rules of the mystics. "Renaissance" means the "rebirth". Few people today will care to remind you that it was a rebirth of reason - of man's mind.

dark men mean

When man learns to understand and control his own behavior as well as he is learning to understand and control the behavior of crop plants and domestic animals, he may be justified in believing that he has become civilized.

animal men believe

And here, over the portals of my fort, I shall cut in the stone the word which is to be my beacon and my banner. The word which will not die should we all perish in battle. The word which can never die on this earth, for it is the heart of it and the meaning and the glory. The sacred word: EGO

ego cutting heart

A spirit, too, needs fuel. It can run dry. by Ayn Rand

A spirit, too, needs fuel. It can run dry.

fuel running needs

To abstain from condemning a torturer, is to become an accessory to the torture and murder of his victims.

accessories murder victim

Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others.

humor giving men

Ask anything of men. Ask them to achieve wealth, fame, love, brutality, murder, self-sacrifice. But don’t ask them to achieve self-respect. They will hate your soul.

sacrifice hate men

Every coercive monopoly was created by government intervention into the economy: by special privileges, such as franchises or subsidies, which closed the entry of competitors into a given field, by legislative action.

liberty government special

Peter Keating: "Do you always have to have a purpose? Do you always have to be so damn serious? Can't you ever do things without reason, just like everybody else? You're so serious, so old. Everything's important with you. Everything's great, significant in some way, every minute, even when you keep still. Can't you ever be comfortable-and unimportant?" | Howard Roark: "No."

important purpose way

I am an innovator. This is a term of distinction, a term of honor, rather than something to hide or apologize for. Anyone who

intellectual honor ideas

Then no rightful cause was left, and the pain of anger was turning into the shameful pain of submission. He had no right to condemn anyone - he thought - to denounce anything, to fight and die joyously, claiming the sanctity of virtue. The broken promises, the unconfessed desires, the betrayal, the deceit, the lies, the fraud - he was guilty of them all. What form of corruption could he scorn? Degrees do not matter, he thought; one does not bargain about inches of evil.

betrayal pain lying

Selfishness does not mean only to do things for one's self. One may do things, affecting others, for his own pleasure and benefit. This is not immoral, but the highest of morality.

self doe mean

For the coming of that day shall I fight, I and my sons and my chosen friends. For the freedom of Man. For his rights. For his life. For his honor.

fighting men son

In order to be in control of your life, you have to have a purpos... by Ayn Rand

In order to be in control of your life, you have to have a purpose-a productive purpose.

control-of-your-life purpose order

An attempt to achieve the good by force is like an attempt to provide a man with a picture gallery at the price of cutting out his eyes.

cutting eye philosophy

Thanksgiving is a typically American holiday. In spite of its religious form (giving thanks to God for a good harvest), its essential, secular meaning is a celebration of successful production. It is a producers’ holiday. The lavish meal is a symbol of the fact that abundant consumption is the result and reward of production. Abundance is (or was and ought to be) America’s pride-just as it is the pride of American parents that their children need never know starvation.

holiday religious children

"You were not born to be a second-hander." Howard Roark to Gail W... by Ayn Rand

"You were not born to be a second-hander." Howard Roark to Gail Wynand in "The Fountainhead"

howard-roark fountainhead action

Altruism declares that any action taken for the benefit of others is good, and any action taken for one's own benefit is evil. Thus the beneficiary of an action is the only criterion of moral value - and so long as that beneficiary is anybody other than oneself, anything goes.

taken evil long