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To interpose the threat of physical destruction between a man and his perception of reality, is to negate and paralyze his means of survival to force him to act against his own judgment, is like forcing him to act against his own sight

Ayn Rand

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Ayn Rand
Age: 77 †
Born: 1905
Born: February 2
Died: 1982
Died: March 6
Essayist
Journalist
Literary Critic
Novelist
Philosopher
Playwright
Science Fiction Writer
Screenwriter
St. Petersburg
Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum
Force
Forcing
Means
Survival
Reality
Perception
Mean
Threat
Men
Destruction
Like
Sight
Interpose
Judgment
Negate
Physical
Paralyze

More quotes by Ayn Rand

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Andrei, did you like the opera? Not particularly. Andrei, do you see what you're missing? I don't think I do, Kira. It's all rather silly. And useless. Can't you enjoy things that are useless, merely because they are beautiful? No. But I enjoyed it. The music? No. The way you listened to it.
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A rational process is a moral process.
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Honor is self-esteem made visible in action.
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If you don't know, the thing to do is not to get scared, but to learn.
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He despised causeless affection, just as he despised unearned wealth. They professed to love him for some unknown reason and they ignored all the things for which he could wish to be loved.
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If the rest of them can survive only by destroying us, then why should we wish them to survive? . . . Nothing can make it moral to destroy the best. One can't be punished for being good. One can't be penalized for ability.
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The worst evil that you can do, psychologically, is to laugh at yourself. That means spitting in your own face.
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Ask yourself whether the dream of heaven and greatness should be waiting for us in our graves - or whether it should be ours here and now and on this earth.
Ayn Rand
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There is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone.
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Compromise now, because you'll have to later, anyway, only then you'll have gone through things you'll wish you hadn't.
Ayn Rand
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Faith is the wors curse of mankind, as the exact antithesis and enemy of thought.
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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
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For they have nothing to fight me with, save the brute force of their numbers. I have my mind.
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If workers struggle for higher wages, this is hailed as social gains, if businessmen struggle for higher profits, this is damned as selfish greed.
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Sacrifice does not mean the rejection of the worthless, but of the precious
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The essential characteristic of socialism is the denial of individual property rights.
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Love, friendship, respect, admiration are the emotional response of one man to the virtues of another, the spiritual payment given in exchange for the personal, selfish pleasure which one man derives from the virtues of another man’s character.
Ayn Rand
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A quest for self-respect is proof of its lack
Ayn Rand
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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
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The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live.
Ayn Rand