To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say the 'I.'
Ayn RandRead
An attempt to achieve the good by force is like an attempt to provide a man with a picture gallery at the price of cutting out his eyes.
Interpretation
Forcing someone to accept a supposed 'good' can result in harm and loss of true perception.
Ayn Rand's quote suggests that imposing what one believes to be good upon others, especially through force, can lead to significant detriment, stripping individuals of their ability to truly appreciate or perceive value. The metaphor of providing a picture gallery while damaging someone's eyes highlights the irony and detrimental nature of such coercion, illustrating that genuine appreciation of goodness cannot be compelled.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about individual rights and freedoms in political debates.
To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say the 'I.'
The difference between animals and humans is that animals change themselves for the environment, but humans change the environment for themselves.
It is my eyes which see, and the sight of my eyes grants beauty to the earth. It is my ears which hear, and the hearing of my ears gives its song to the world. It is my mind which thinks, and the judgement of my mind is the only searchlight that can find the truth. It is my will which chooses, and the choice of my will is the only edict I must respect.
What is the basic, the essential, the crucial principle that differentiates freedom from slavery? It is the principle of voluntary action versus physical coercion or compulsion.
One method of destroying a concept is by diluting its meaning. Observe that by ascribing rights to the unborn, i.e., the nonliving, the anti-abortionists obliterate the rights of the living.
I think that when in doubt about the truth of an issue, it's safer and in better taste to select the least numerous of the adversaries.
Every breath you take, you are getting closer to the grave. But every breath you take, you can also get closer to your liberation.
We trample the blood of the Son of God underfoot if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins.
Supposed I don't want to redeem myself? Why should I fight to uphold the system that cast me out? I shall take pleasure in seeing it smashed.
Eating and sleeping are not like loving and breathing. Washing is not like eating and sleeping. Believing is like breathing and loving. Religion can be believing, it can be like breathing, it can be like loving, it can be like eating or sleeping, it can be like washing, it can be something to fill up a place when someone has lost out of them a piece that it was not natural for them to have in them.
Yes, hope is a strange thing. Peace at last. But at what price?
Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge.
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