If you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world bore down upon his shoulders - What would you tell him?" Iโฆdon't know. Whatโฆcould he do? What would you tell him?" To shrug.
Ayn RandDo not make the mistake of the ignorant who think that an individualist is a man who says: โIโll do as I please at everybody elseโs expense.โ An individualist is a man who recognizes the inalienable individual rights of manโhis own and those of others.
Ayn RandWe are on strike against martyrdomโand against the moral code that demands it. We are on strike against those who believe that one man must exist for the sake of another. We are on strike against the morality of cannibals, be it practiced in body or in spirit. We will not deal with men on any terms but oursโand our terms are a moral code which holds that man is an end in himself and not the means to any end of others.
Ayn RandHe stepped to the window and pointed to the skyscrapers of the city. He said that we had to extinguish the lights of the world, and when we would see the lights of New York go out, we would know that our job was done.
Ayn Rand[What for] was the first question he asked about any activity proposed to him - and nothing would make him act, if he found no valid answer. He flew through the days of his summer month like a rocket, but if one stopped him in mid-flight, he could always name the purpose of his every random moment. Two things were impossible to him: to stand still or to move aimlessly.
Ayn Rand