“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
Atlas Shrugged (Primary source)
In Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand explores Objectivism, a philosophy of rational self-interest. The story follows a dystopian United States where successful innovators, led by John Galt, go on strike to protest excessive government regulation and taxation.
“Who will let you? That’s not the point. The point is, who will stop me?”
— Ayn Rand Primary source“I don’t intend to build in order to have clients. I intend to have clients in order to build.”
— Ayn Rand Primary source“A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.”
— Ayn Rand Primary source“Do not make the mistake of the ignorant who think that an individualist is a man who says: I’ll do as I please at everybody else’s expense. An individualist is a man who recognizes the inalienable individual rights of man—his own and those of others.
— Ayn Rand Primary source“You will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“You may be too cunning for one, but not for all.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“What is the hardest task in the world? To think.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“Don’t think to hunt two hares with one dog.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source