Ayn Rand (1905–1982) was a Russian-American writer and philosopher. She is known for her two best-selling novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and for developing a philosophical system she named Objectivism. Hope, our collection of Ayn Rand Quotes will inspire you to live with honesty and truth.
The most depraved type of human being is the man without a purpose.
– Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand Quotes
1. “Every man is free to rise as far as he’s able or willing, but the degree to which he thinks determines the degree to which he’ll rise.” – Ayn Rand
2. “Live and act within the limit of your knowledge and keep expanding it to the limit of your life.” – Ayn Rand
3. “Joy is the goal of existence, and joy is not to be stumbled upon, but to be achieved, and the act of treason is to let its vision drown in the swamp of the moment’s torture.” – Ayn Rand
4. “It was the greatest sensation of existence: not to trust but to know.” – Ayn Rand
5. “A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.” – Ayn Rand
6. “Men who reject the responsibility of thought and reason can only exist as parasites on the thinking of others.” – Ayn Rand
7. “If one doesn’t respect oneself one can have neither love nor respect for others.” – Ayn Rand
8. “No speech is ever considered, but only the speaker. It’s so much easier to pass judgement on a man than on an idea.” – Ayn Rand
9. “If one’s actions are honest, one does not need the predated confidence of others.” – Ayn Rand
10. “The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.” – Ayn Rand
11. “The man who does not value himself, cannot value anything or anyone.” – Ayn Rand
12. “Learn to value yourself, which means: fight for your happiness.” – Ayn Rand
13. “Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values.” – Ayn Rand
14. “The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity.” – Ayn Rand
15. “The worst guilt is to accept an unearned guilt.” – Ayn Rand
16. “Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values.” – Ayn Rand
17. “Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.” – Ayn Rand
18. “If you don’t know, the thing to do is not to get scared, but to learn.” – Ayn Rand
19. “The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody has decided not to see.” – Ayn Rand
20. “The truth is not for all men but only for those who seek it.” – Ayn Rand
21. “Every man builds his world in his own image. He has the power to choose, but no power to escape the necessity of choice.” – Ayn Rand
22. “When man learns to understand and control his own behavior as well as he is learning to understand and control the behavior of crop plants and domestic animals, he may be justified in believing that he has become civilized.” – Ayn Rand
23. “Man cannot survive except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon.” – Ayn Rand
24. “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
25. “The right to agree with others is not a problem in any society; it is the right to disagree that is crucial.” – Ayn Rand
26. “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
27. “We can never really know another person, except by our first glance at him. Because, in that glance, we know everything. Even though we’re not always wise enough to unravel the knowledge.” – Ayn Rand
28. “Every honest man lives for himself. Every man worth calling a man lives for himself. The one who doesn’t – doesn’t live at all.” – Ayn Rand
29. “Money demands that you sell, not your weakness to men’s stupidity, but your talent to their reason.” – Ayn Rand
30. “There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil.” – Ayn Rand
31. “Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision.” – Ayn Rand
32. “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.” – Ayn Rand
33. “Patience is always rewarded and romance is always round the corner!” – Ayn Rand
34. “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.” – Ayn Rand
35. “Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artists metaphysical value judgments.” – Ayn Rand
36. “One loses everything when one loses one’s sense of humor.” – Ayn Rand
37. “Rationalization is a process of not perceiving reality, but of attempting to make reality fit one’s emotions.” – Ayn Rand
38. “The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live.” – Ayn Rand
39. “Money will not purchase happiness for the man who has no concept of what he wants.” – Ayn Rand
40. “To achieve, you need thought. You have to know what you are doing and that’s real power.” – Ayn Rand
