Ayn Rand Quotes

Man has been called a rational being, but rationality is a matter of choice-and the alternative his nature offers him is: rational being or suicidal animal. Man has to be man-by choice; he has to hold his life as a value-by choice; he has to learn to sustain it-by choice; he has to discover the values it requires and practice his virtues-by choice. A code of values accepted by choice is a code of morality.

We are product of neither nature nor nurture; we are a product of choice, because there is always a space between stimulus and response. As we wisely exercise our power to choose based on principles, the space will become larger.

In fact, it is a farce to call any being virtuous whose virtues do not result from the exercise of its own reason.

Everythings a choice. Nobody's born good. Nobody's born evil. It's always a choice.

Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses to be bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him?

It is our choice of good or evil that determines our character, not our opinion about good or evil.

I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority. This view sustains a conception of human dignity insofar as it sees in each man a capacity for choosing his own behavior. And as it turned out, many subjects did, indeed, choose to reject the experimenter's commands, providing a powerful affirmation of human ideals.

Of course I believe in free will. Do we have a choice?

If individuals are rational, there is no need to protect them against their own choices.

It's motive alone which gives character to the actions of men.

It's very clearly stated in the film: You make your own choices, and what you're always fighting is ego.

I have gained this from philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.

Values are rooted in a basic optimism about life and a faith in free will.

When we choose for ourselves, we also choose for others.

In life, there is good, evil, love, and hatred. What we desire, choose, and need to pursue is in our hands.

At the end of the day, you have to do what you think is right and be human.

There is a choice you have to make in everything you do. So keep in mind that in the end, the choice you make, makes you.

All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell.

Morality pertains only to the sphere of man's free will - only to those actions which are open to his choice.

Integrity in the Moment of Choice: Quality of life depends on what happens in the space between stimulus and response.

You always have a choice. It's just that some people make the wrong one.

It's choice that makes us human.

Fundamentally, we are a product of choice, not nature (genes) or nurture (upbringing, environment).

Man must choose his world