Ayn Rand: Man (page 2)

“A rational man never distorts or corrupts his own standards and judgment in order to appeal to the irrationality, stupidity, or dishonesty of others.”

“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.”

“Thousands of years ago the first man discovered how to make fire. He was probably burnt at the stake he'd taught his brothers to light, but he left them a gift they had not conceived and he lifted darkness from the face of the Earth.”

“every man is free to rise as far as he's able or willing, but the degree to which he thinks determines the degree to which he'll rise.”

“A man's ego is the fountainhead of human progress.”

“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.”

“My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.”

“But what man does out of despair, is not necessarily a key to his character. I have always thought that the real key is in that which he seeks for his enjoyment.”

“Only a man of integrity can possess the virtue of honesty, since only the faking of one’s consciousness can permit the faking of existence.”

“Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think.”

“In order to deal with reality successfully - to pursue and achieve the values which his life requires - man needs self-esteem; he needs to be confident of his efficacy and worth.”

“I understood that centuries of chains and lashes will not kill the spirit of man nor the sense of truth within him.”

“Have you noticed that the imbecile always smiles? Man's first frown is the first touch of God on his forehead. The touch of thought.”

“Remember that rights are moral principles which define and protect a man's freedom of action, but impose no obligations on other men.”

“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.”

“A Conformist is a man who declares, "It's true because others believe it" - but an Individualist is NOT a man who declares, "It's true because I believe it."
An Individual declares, "I believe it because I see in reason that it is true.”

“Competition is a by-product of productive work, not its goal. A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.”

“Never initiate the use of force against another man. Never let his use of force against you remain unanswered by force.”

“The moral cannibalism of all hedonist and altruist doctrines lies in the premise that the happiness of one man necessitates the injury of another.”