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100 Enlightening Quotes By Ayn Rand, The Author Of Atlas Shrugged

Famous As: Writer and Philosopher Known for Her Best-Selling Novels ‘The Fountainhead’ and ‘Atlas Shrugged’
Born On: February 2, 1905
Died On: March 6, 1982
Born In: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Died At Age: 77
Ayn Rand was a Russia born American author, philosopher, playwright and intellectual. She was educated in Petrograd State University in Russia and studied history, but her passion was in literature which she pursued with great zeal. Rand arrived in the Unites States in 1925 but initially she worked as an extra in Hollywood in order to support herself while she worked on her writing and in 1934 she had her first big break with the screenplay of the film ‘Red Pawn’. However, her most important contribution to the world of literature has to be the philosophy of objectivism that placed the human being and human will above anything else. Her most famous novel ‘The Fountainhead’, published in 1943, tackled the subject at length and is regarded as one of the most influen-tial novels ever written in the English language. She followed it up with her second masterpiece ‘Atlas Shrugged’ in 1957 that explored the ideals of objectivity with even more depth. Rand is without doubt one of the most revered thinkers and philosophers of the 20th century and here are some of the finest quotes from her life and work.
The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.

The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.

Ayn Rand
If you don't know, the thing to do is not to get scared, but to learn.

If you don't know, the thing to do is not to get scared, but to learn.

Ayn Rand
Learn to value yourself, which means: fight for your happiness.

Learn to value yourself, which means: fight for your happiness.

Ayn Rand
I could die for you. But I couldn't, and wouldn't, live for you.

I could die for you. But I couldn't, and wouldn't, live for you.

Ayn Rand
Freedom (n.): To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.

Freedom (n.): To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.

Ayn Rand
A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.

A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.

Ayn Rand
To say

To say "I love you" one must know first how to say the "I".

Ayn Rand
I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.

I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.

Ayn Rand
The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.

The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.

Ayn Rand
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.

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.

Ayn Rand
The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody has decided not to see.

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

Ayn Rand
The man who does not value himself, cannot value anything or anyone.

The man who does not value himself, cannot value anything or anyone.

Ayn Rand
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.

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.

Ayn Rand
He is free to evade reality, he is free to unfocus his mind and stumble blindly down any road he pleases, but not free to avoid the abyss he refuses to see.

He is free to evade reality, he is free to unfocus his mind and stumble blindly down any road he pleases, but not free to avoid the abyss he refuses to see.

Ayn Rand
Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think that you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.

Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think that you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.

Ayn Rand
My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose.

My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose.

Ayn Rand
The truth is not for all men but only for those who seek it.

The truth is not for all men but only for those who seek it.

Ayn Rand
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.

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.

Ayn Rand
Never think of pain or danger or enemies a moment longer than is necessary to fight them.

Never think of pain or danger or enemies a moment longer than is necessary to fight them.

Ayn Rand
Don't fool yourself, my dear. You're much worse than a bitch. You're a saint. Which shows why saints are dangerous and undesirable.

Don't fool yourself, my dear. You're much worse than a bitch. You're a saint. Which shows why saints are dangerous and undesirable.

Ayn Rand
Let me give you a tip on a clue to men's characters: the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it.

Let me give you a tip on a clue to men's characters: the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it.

Ayn Rand
To sell your soul is the easiest thing in the world. That's what everybody does every hour of his life. If I asked you to keep your soul - would you understand why that's much harder?

To sell your soul is the easiest thing in the world. That's what everybody does every hour of his life. If I asked you to keep your soul - would you understand why that's much harder?

Ayn Rand
She did not know the nature of her loneliness. The only words that named it were: This is not the world I expected.

She did not know the nature of her loneliness. The only words that named it were: This is not the world I expected.

Ayn Rand
If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing.

If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing.

Ayn Rand
You have been the one encounter in my life that can never be repeated

You have been the one encounter in my life that can never be repeated

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.

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
Who is John Galt?

Who is John Galt?

Ayn Rand
I never found beauty in longing for the impossible and never found the possible to be beyond my reach.

I never found beauty in longing for the impossible and never found the possible to be beyond my reach.

Ayn Rand
I love you so much that nothing can matter to me - not even you...Only my love- not your answer. Not even your indifference

I love you so much that nothing can matter to me - not even you...Only my love- not your answer. Not even your indifference

Ayn Rand
I worship individuals for their highest possibilities as individuals and I loathe humanity for its failure to live up to these possibilities.

I worship individuals for their highest possibilities as individuals and I loathe humanity for its failure to live up to these possibilities.

Ayn Rand