Ayn Rand Quotes - Page 2

• If you surrender everything to the government and give it total power to plan the whole economy, this will not guarantee your economic security, but it will guarantee the descent of the entire nation to a level of miserable poverty--as the practical results of every totalitarian economy, communist or fascist, have demonstrated.

  Ayn Rand

  Government, Giving, Guarantees

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• America's abundance was created not by public sacrifices to the common good, but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes. They did not starve the people to pay for America's industrialization. They gave the people better jobs, higher wages, and cheaper goods with every new machine they invented, with every scientific discovery or technological advance- and thus the whole country was moving forward and profiting, not suffering, every step of the way.

  Ayn Rand

  Country, Jobs, Moving

  "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal". Book by Ayn Rand and Nathaniel Branden, 1966.

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• Potentially, 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.

  Ayn Rand

  Men, Rights, Use

  Ayn Rand (1964). “The Virtue of Selfishness”, p.94, Penguin

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• Two world wars, three monstrous dictatorships-in Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, Red China-plus every lesser variant of devastating socialist experimentation in a global spread of brutality and despair, have not prompted modern intellectuals to question or revise their dogma. They still think that it is daring, idealistic and unconventional to denounce the rich. They still believe that money is the root of all evil-except government money, which is the solution to all problems.

  Ayn Rand

  War, Believe, Thinking

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  Government 'help' to business is just as disastrous as government persecution... the only way a government can be of service to national prosperity is by keeping its hands off.

  Ayn Rand

  Witty, Business, Government

  Ayn Rand, Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, Robert Hessen (1986). “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal”, p.131, Penguin

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• Everyone has the right to make his own decisions, but none has the right to force his decision on others.

  Ayn Rand

  Decision, Liberty, Economics

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• The [U.S.] Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals ... it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government ... it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen's protection against the government.

  Ayn Rand

  Government, Liberty, Doe

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  The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.

  Ayn Rand

  Wisdom, Power, Men

  Ayn Rand (2016). “Atlas Shrugged”, p.334, Hamilton Books

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• Since there is no such entity as 'the public,' since the public is merely a number of individuals, the idea that 'the public interest' supersedes private interests and rights can have but one meaning: that the interests and rights of some individuals take precedence over the interests and rights of others.

  Ayn Rand

  Rights, Ideas, Numbers

  Ayn Rand (1990). “The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought”, p.243, Penguin

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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.

  Ayn Rand

  Real, Hero, Recovery

  Ayn Rand (2011). “Ayn Rand Novel Collection”, p.2269, Penguin

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• Defiance, not obedience, is the American's answer to overbearing authority.

  Ayn Rand

  Answers, Obedience, Authority

  Ayn Rand (1984). “Philosophy: Who Needs It”, p.200, Penguin

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• The uncontested absurdities of today are the accepted slogans of tomorrow. They come to be accepted by degrees, by dint of constant pressure on one side and constant retreat on the other - until one day when they are suddenly declared to be the country's official ideology.

  Ayn Rand

  Country, One Day, Degrees

  Ayn Rand (1999). “The Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution”, p.8, Penguin

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• People are not embracing collectivism because they have accepted bad economics. They are accepting bad economics because they have embraced collectivism.

  Ayn Rand

  People, Economics, Accepted

  Ayn Rand (1997). “Letters of Ayn Rand”, p.278, Penguin

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• You can ignore reality, but you can't ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.

  Ayn Rand

  Reality, Consequence

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• The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody had decided not to see.

  Ayn Rand

  Inspirational, Live Life, Teaching

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• If a society is to be free, its government has to be controlled.

  Ayn Rand

  Government, Controlled, Ifs

  Ayn Rand, Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, Robert Hessen (1986). “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal”, p.315, Penguin

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• The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master.

  Ayn Rand

  Sacrifice, Men, Liberty

  Ayn Rand (1963). “For the New Intellectual: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand (50th Anniversary Edition)”, p.58, Penguin

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• Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority.

  Ayn Rand

  Rights, Liberty, Majority

  Ayn Rand (1964). “The Virtue of Selfishness”, p.100, Penguin

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• Whoever defends his own rights defends the rights of all.

  Ayn Rand

  Rights

  Ayn Rand (1988). “The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z”, p.512, Penguin

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• A society that robs an individual of the product of his effort ... is not strictly speaking a society, but a mob held together by institutionalized gang violence.

  Ayn Rand

  Effort, Liberty, Together

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• The uncontested absurdities of today are the accepted slogans of tomorrow.

  Ayn Rand

  Liberty, Today, Tomorrow

  Ayn Rand (1999). “The Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution”, p.8, Penguin

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  The government was set to protect man from criminals, and the Constitution was written to protect man from the government.

  Ayn Rand

  Men, Libertarian Party, Liberty

  Ayn Rand (1964). “The Virtue of Selfishness”, p.92, Penguin

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• Don't ever give up what you want in life. The struggle is worth it.

  Ayn Rand

  Giving Up, Struggle, Want

  Ayn Rand (1990). “The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought”, p.321, Penguin

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• An irresponsible person is a person who makes vague promises, then breaks his word, blames it on circumstances and expects other people to forgive it.

  Ayn Rand

  Responsibility, People, Forgiving

  Ayn Rand (1997). “Letters of Ayn Rand”, p.476, Penguin

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• The source of the government's authority is “the consent of the governed.” This means that the government is not the ruler, but the servant or agent of the citizens; it means that the government as such has no rights except the rights delegated to it by the citizens for a specific purpose.

  Ayn Rand

  Mean, Rights, Government

  Ayn Rand (1988). “The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z”, p.204, Penguin

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