To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say the 'I.'
Ayn RandRead
Every period ruled by mystics was an era of stagnation and want, when most men were on strike against existence.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that periods dominated by mysticism hinder human progress and prosperity.
Ayn Rand argues that times influenced by mysticism lead to stagnation and suffering, as people disengage from reality and suppress their existence. In her view, reliance on mystical beliefs obstructs rational thought and prevents humanity from achieving its full potential and flourishing.
Themes
MysticismStagnationExistenceRationalityProgress
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the dangers of unchecked beliefs, one might quote this to highlight the importance of reason.
More from Ayn Rand
All quotes βThe difference between animals and humans is that animals change themselves for the environment, but humans change the environment for themselves.
Ayn RandRead
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.
Ayn RandRead
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.
Ayn RandRead
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.
Ayn RandRead
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.
Ayn RandRead
Similar quotes
Are wars... anything but the means whereby a nation's problems are set, where creation is stimulated - there you have adventure. But there is no adventure in heads-or-tails, in betting that the toss will come out of life or death. War is not an adventure. It is a disease. It is like typhus.
Antoine De Saint-ExuperyRead
Sometimes, when she's out here alone, she can feel the pulse of something bigger, as if all things animate were beating in unison, a glory and a connection that sweeps her out of herself, out of her consciousness, so that nothing has a name, not in Latin, not in English, not in any known language.
T.C. BoyleRead
The deceit, the lie of the devil consists of this, that he wishes to make man believe that he can live without God's Word. Thus he dangles before man's fantasy a kingdom of faith, of power, and of peace, into which only he can enter who consents to the temptations; and conceals from men that he, as the devil, is the most unfortunate and unhappy of beings, since he is finally and eternally rejected by God.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
In every heart there is an inner room, where we can hold our greatest treasures and our deepest pain.
Marianne WilliamsonRead
Where is everybody? Humans could theoretically colonize the galaxy in a million years or so, and if they could, astronauts from older civilizations could do the same. So why haven't they come to Earth?
Enrico FermiRead
The kingdom is not an exclusive, well-trimmed suburb with snobbish rules about who can live there. No, it is for a larger, homelier, less self-conscious caste of people who understand they are sinners because they have experienced the yaw and pitch of moral struggle.
Brennan ManningRead