To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say the 'I.'
Ayn RandRead
You have no choice about your capacity to feel that something is good for you or evil, but what you will consider good or evil, what will give you joy or pain, what you will love or hate, desire or fear, depends on your standard of value.
Interpretation
Your feelings of good and evil are innate, but your values dictate how you perceive them.
Ayn Rand's quote emphasizes that while humans inherently experience emotions and reactions to good and evil, the interpretation of those feelings is contingent upon individual standards of value. Our personal beliefs and values shape our reactions and preferences, creating a subjective experience of joy, pain, love, hate, desire, and fear.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal values and ethics.
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.
Time is the father of truth, its mother is our mind.
Fame is a form of misunderstanding.
The fact is, when men carry the same ideals in their hearts, nothing can isolate them - neither prison walls nor the sod of cemeteries. For a single memory, a single spirit, a single idea, a single conscience, a single dignity will sustain them all.
I like the religion that teaches liberty, equality and fraternity.
Needing to have reality confirmed and experience enhanced by photographs is an aesthetic consumerism to which everyone is now addicted. Industrial societies turn their citizens into image-junkies; it is the most irresistible form of mental pollution.
One should always have one's boots on and be ready to leave.
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