The moral justification of capitalism does not lie in the altruist claim that it represents the best way to achieve 'the common good.' It is true that capitalism does -- if that catch-phrase has any meaning -- but this is merely a secondary consequence. The moral justification for capitalism lies in the fact that it is the only system consonant with man's rational nature, that it protects man's survival qua man, and that its ruling principle is: justice

The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum. Whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles.

When men abandon reason, physical force becomes their only means of dealing with one another and of settling disagreements.

If you tell an amateur that his story is not good, he always declares indignantly: 'Oh, but it really happened just like this!' The writer who doesn't understand that this is beside the point is not a writer at all.

Capitalism is a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned.

Errors of knowledge are not breaches of morality; no proper moral code can demand infallibility or omniscience.

She had learned, in the slums of her childhood, that honest people were never touchy about the matter of being trusted.