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Happiness is a state of non-contradictory joy . . . Happiness is possible only to a rational man, the man who desires nothing but rational goals, seeks nothing but rational values, and finds his joy in nothing but rational actions.

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
State
Finds
Happiness
Desires
Values
Goals
Desire
Rational
Action
Actions
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Joy
Nothing
Possible
Contradictory
Men
Goal
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I can say-not as a patriotic bromide, but with full knowledge of the necessary metaphysical, epistemological , ethical, political and esthetic roots-that the United States of America is the greatest, the noblest and, in its original founding principles, the only moral country in the history of the world.
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The government was set to protect man from criminals-and the constitution was written to protect man from the government. The Bill of Rights was not directed at private citizens, but against the government-as an explicit declaration that individual rights supersede any public or social power.
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To know one's own desires, their meaning and their costs requires the highest human virtue: rationality.
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Man cannot demand that others give up their lives to make him happy.
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There is a level of cowardice lower than that of the conformist: the fashionable non-conformist.
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There is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone.
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I refuse to apologize for my ability -- I refuse to apologize for my success -- I refuse to apologize for my money. If this is evil, make the most of it.
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I am opposed to all forms of control. I am for an absolute, laissez-faire, free, unregulated economy.
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You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.
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Self-esteem is reliance on one's power to think... The man of authentic self-confidence is the man who relies on the judgment of his own mind.
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When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion...th at in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing-you may know that your society is doomed.
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No speech is ever considered, but only the speaker. It's so much easier to pass judgement on a man than on an idea.
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and he said her name to fill the space of five years.
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Whoever, to whatever purpose or extent, initiates the use of force, is a killer acting on the premise of death in a manner wider than murder: the premise of destroying man's capacity to live.
Ayn Rand
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Learn to value yourself, which means: fight for your happiness.
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Do not let your fire go out ... Do not let the Hero in your soul perish ... Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.
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There is nothing to take a man’s freedom away from him, save other men.
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Emotions are not tools of cognition. They tell you nothing about the nature of reality.
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The mind is the attribute of man. When man is born, he comes into existence with only one weapon with him--The reasoning mind.
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In this world, either you're virtuous or you enjoy yourself. Not both, lady, not both.
Ayn Rand