A collection of the most thought provoking quotes by novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand. These Ayn Rand quotes shine a light on the Objectivism system of philosophy.
Ayn Rand Quotes
Ayn Rand (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum, February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982) was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, and playwright. She is best known for her philosophical system called Objectivism and for her novels that promote her philosophical ideas. Rand’s work has had a significant influence on politics, economics, and contemporary libertarian and conservative thought.
Some of her most notable works include:
- “The Fountainhead” (1943): This novel tells the story of Howard Roark, an individualistic and uncompromising architect who follows his own vision, regardless of societal norms and conventions. It explores themes of individualism, creativity, and integrity.
- “Atlas Shrugged” (1957): This epic novel presents a dystopian vision of a future America where the government has taken control of the economy and individual freedom is eroded. The story revolves around the struggles of various industrialists and innovators who go on strike to protest government interference. The novel lays out Rand’s Objectivist philosophy in more detail.
Ayn Rand Objectivism
Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism is characterized by several key principles:
- Individualism: Rand championed the sovereignty of the individual and believed that self-interest and rational pursuit of one’s own happiness were virtuous.
- Rationality: She emphasized the importance of reason as the means by which individuals should make decisions and guide their lives.
- Capitalism: Rand was a staunch advocate of laissez-faire capitalism, arguing that it was the only moral and practical economic system.
- Ethical egoism: Rand’s philosophy argues that individuals should act in their rational self-interest and not sacrifice themselves for others.
Her ideas have been the subject of much debate and discussion, and she has both passionate supporters and strong critics. Ayn Rand’s work continues to be influential in the fields of philosophy, politics, and literature, and her novels remain widely read and studied.
Well Known Quotes Ayn Rand
We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality
There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism—by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide.
I could die for you. But I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, live for you.
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.
So you think that money is the root of all evil. Have you ever asked what is the root of all money?
There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil.
If the truth shall kill them, let them die.
A man’s ego is the fountainhead of human progress.
If one’s actions are honest, one does not need the predated confidence of others.
Quotes From Ayn Rand
I can accept anything, except what seems to be the easiest for most people: the half-way, the almost, the just-about, the in-between.
The man who attempts to live for others is a dependent. He is a parasite in motive and makes parasites of those he serves. The relationship produces nothing but mutual corruption.
You can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.
The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live.
There is a level of cowardice lower than that of the conformist: the fashionable non-conformist.
Men who reject the responsibility of thought and reason can only exist as parasites on the thinking of others.
A building has integrity just like a man. And just as seldom.
Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others.
I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.
The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.
Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.
“I regret nothing. There have been things I missed, but I ask no questions, because I have loved it, such as it has been, even the moments of emptiness, even the unanswered-and that I loved it, that is the unanswered in my life.”
Famous Quotes By Ayn Rand
Worry is a waste of emotional reserve.
There are no evil thoughts except one; the refusal to think.
Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.
When I die, I hope to go to Heaven, whatever the Hell that is.
The quickest way to kill the human spirit is to ask someone to do mediocre work.
Even if smog were a risk to human life, we must remember that life in nature, without technology, is wholesale death.
There is no such thing as duty. If you know that a thing is right, you want to do it. If you don’t want to do it—it isn’t right. If it’s right and you don’t want to do it—you don’t know what right is and you’re not a man.
I am. I think. I will.
My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose.
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.
But why should you care what people will say? All you have to do is please yourself.
I started my life with a single absolute: that the world was mine to shape in the image of my highest values and never to be given up to a lesser standard, no matter how long or hard the struggle.
A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.
The man who does not value himself, cannot value anything or anyone.
Wealth is the product of man’s capacity to think.
Man’s unique reward, however, is that while animals survive by adjusting themselves to their background, man survives by adjusting his background to himself
Every man builds his world in his own image. He has the power to choose, but no power to escape the necessity of choice.
Aristotle may be regarded as the cultural barometer of Western history. Whenever his influence dominated the scene, it paved the way for one of history’s brilliant eras; whenever it fell, so did mankind.
Live and act within the limit of your knowledge and keep expanding it to the limit of your life.
Never ask people about your work.
The most depraved type of human being … the man without a purpose.
Ayn Rand Quotations
The man who is proudly certain of his own value, will want the highest type of woman he can find, the woman he admires, the strongest, the hardest to conquer – because only the possession of a heroine will give him the sense of an achievement.
The man who lies to the world, is the world’s slave from then on. There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.
I’ve always thought that a feeling which changes never existed in the first place.
He never felt loneliness except when he was happy.
Devotion to the truth is the hallmark of morality; there is no greater, nobler, more heroic form of devotion than the act of a man who assumes the responsibility of thinking.
An individualist is a man who says: “I will not run anyone’s life—nor let anyone run mine. I will not rule nor be ruled. I will not be a master nor a slave. I will not sacrifice myself to anyone—nor sacrifice anyone to myself.”
The causes of illusions are not pretty to discover. They’re either vicious or tragic.
Evil requires the sanction of the victim.
“Free competition enforced by law” is a grotesque contradiction in terms.
I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason.
What is greatness? I will answer: it is the capacity to live by the three fundamental values of John Galt: reason, purpose, self-esteem.
The worst evil that you can do, psychologically, is to laugh at yourself. That means spitting in your own face.
A gun is not an argument.
Inspirational Quotes Ayn Rand
A government is the most dangerous threat to man’s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims.
Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach.
Remember also that the smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights, cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.
Tell me what a person finds sexually attractive and I will tell you their entire philosophy of life. Show me the person they sleep with and I will tell you their valuation of themselves
There is no such dichotomy as “human rights” versus “property rights.” No human rights can exist without property rights.
Anyone who fights for the future, lives in it today.
Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values.
Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most important is nothing to them; nothing, not even a sound they can recognize.
People think that a liar gains a victory over his victim. What I’ve learned is that a lie is an act of self-abdication, because one surrenders one’s reality to the person to whom one lies, making that person one’s master, condemning oneself from then on to faking the sort of reality that person’s view requires to be faked