One's own independent judgment is the means by which one must choose one's actions, but it is not a moral criterion nor a moral validation; only reference to a demonstrable principle can validate one's choices. Ayn Rand More Quotes by Ayn Rand More Quotes From Ayn Rand Degrees of ability vary, but the basic principle remains the same: the degree of a man's independence, initiative and personal love for his work determines his talent as a worker and his worth as a man. Independence is the only gauge of human virtue and value. What a man is and makes of himself; not what he has or hasn't done for others. There is no substitute for personal dignity. There is no standard of personal dignity except independence. Ayn Rand independence principles men What is the basic, the essential, the crucial principle that differentiates freedom from slavery? It is the principle of voluntary action versus physical coercion or compulsion. Ayn Rand essentials liberty principles There is a level of cowardice lower than that of the conformist: the fashionable non-conformist. Ayn Rand crazy silly funny Just as man's physical existence was liberated when he grasped that 'nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed', so his consciousness will be liberated when grasps that nature, to be apprehended, must be obeyed - that the rules of cognition must be derived from the nature of existence and the nature, the identity, of his cognitive faculty. Ayn Rand identity men philosophy A culture is not the anonymous product of undifferentiate d masses, but the sum of the intellectual achievements of individual men. Ayn Rand intellectual men culture But I still wonder how it was possible, in those graceless years of transition, long ago, that men did not see whither they were going, and went on, in blindness and cowardice, to their fate. I wonder, for it is hard for me to conceive how men who knew the word "I," could give it up and not know what they lost. But such has been the story, for I have lived in the City of the damned, and I know what horror men permitted to be brought upon them. Ayn Rand long-ago fate men Don't rely on our knowledge of what's best for your future. We do know, but it can't be best until you know it. Ayn Rand rely future knowledge The alleged short-cut to knowledge, which is faith, is only a short-circuit destroying the mind Ayn Rand cutting mind religion the worst wars are religious wars between sects of the same religion or civil wars between brothers of the same race. Ayn Rand brother religious war No advocate of reason can claim the right to force his ideas on others. No advocate of the free mind can claim the right to force the minds of others. No rational society, no co-operation, no agreement, no understanding, no discussion are possible among men who propose to substitute guns for rational persuasion. Ayn Rand gun men ideas An animal is equipped for sustaining its life; its senses provide it with an automatic code of action, an automatic knowledge of what is good for it or evil... Man has no automatic code of survival. His particular distinction from all other living species is the necessity to act in the face of alternatives by means of volitional choice. Ayn Rand animal men mean The greatest threat to mankind and civilization is the spread of the totalitarian philosophy. Its best ally is not the devotion of its followers but the confusion of its enemies. To fight it, we must understand it. Ayn Rand fighting philosophy civilization But the mind is an attribute of the individual. There is no such thing as a collective brain. There is no such thing as a collective thought. An agreement reached by a group of men is only a compromise or an average drawn upon many individual thoughts. Ayn Rand individuality average men Achieving life is not the equivalent of avoiding death. Ayn Rand rights inspirational life Joy is the goal of existence, and joy is not to be stumbled upon, but to be achieved, and the act of treason is to let its vision drown in the swamp of the moment's torture. Ayn Rand goal joy philosophy Every man builds his world in his own image; he has the power to choose, but no power to escape the necessity of choice. If he abdicates his power, he abdicates the status of man, and the grinding chaos of the irrational is what he achieves as his sphere of existence—by his own choice. Ayn Rand escaping power men Power-lust is a weed that grows only in the vacant lots of an abandoned mind. Ayn Rand weed power lust The good, say the mystics of spirit, is God, a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man's power to conceive — a definition that invalidates man's consciousness and nullifies his concepts of existence. The good, say the mystics of muscle, is Society — a thing which they define as an organism that possesses no physical form, a super-being embodied in no one in particular and everyone in general except yourself.... The purpose of man's life, say both, is to become an abject zombie who serves a purpose he does not know, for reasons he is not to question. Ayn Rand zombie doe men If, before undertaking some action, you must obtain the permission of society-you are not free, whether such permission is granted to you or not. Only a slave acts on permission. A permission is not a right. Ayn Rand granted slave action You love only those who deserve it. Ayn Rand deserve
