To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say the 'I.'
Ayn RandRead
Man is a being with free will; therefore, each man is potentially good or evil, and it's up to him and only him (through his reasoning mind) to decide which he wants to be.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Humans have the ability to choose their path, determining their moral character through reason.
Ayn Rand emphasizes the importance of free will in human nature, suggesting that each individual has the inherent ability to choose between good and evil. This capacity for reasoning empowers people to make moral decisions, highlighting personal responsibility in shaping one's character and actions.
Themes
Free WillMoralityReasoningPersonal ResponsibilityGoodEvil
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about ethics, this quote can illustrate the concept of personal choice in moral decisions.
More from Ayn Rand
All quotes →The 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
We are at a time in our country's history that inclusive language is better than exclusive language.
Barack ObamaRead
When morals are sufficient, law is unnecessary; when morals are insufficient, law is unenforceable.
Emile DurkheimRead
There are souls that are incurable and lost to the rest of society. Deprive them of one means of folly, they will invent ten thousand others. They will create subtler, wilder methods, methods that are absolutely DESPERATE. Nature herself is fundamentally antisocial, it is only by a usurpation of powers that the organized body of society opposes the natural inclination of humanity.
Antonin ArtaudRead
Dawn: When men of reason go to bed.
Ambrose BierceRead
Nature seems at each man's birth to have marked out the bounds of his virtues and vices, and to have determined how good or how wicked that man shall be capable of being.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
Vonnegut could not help looking back, despite the danger of being turned metaphorically into a pillar of salt, into am emblem of the death that comes to those who cannot let go of the past
Kurt VonnegutRead