Ideas cannot be fought except by means of better ideas. The battle consists, not of opposing, but of exposing; not of denouncing, but of disproving; not of evading, but of boldly proclaiming a full, consistent, and radical alternative.
Ayn RandIndiscriminate tolerance and indiscriminate condemnation are not two opposites: they are two variants of the same evasion. To declare that โeverybody is whiteโ or โeverybody is blackโ or โeverybody is neither white nor black, but gray,โ is not a moral judgment, but an escape from the responsibility of moral judgment.
Ayn RandThe freedom of speech of private individuals includes the right to not agree, not to listen, and not to finance one's own antagonists.
Ayn RandLove is our response to our highest values. Love is self-enjoyment. The noblest love is born out of admiration of another's values.
Ayn RandBut you see," said Roark quietly, "I have, letโs say, sixty years to live. Most of that time will be spent working. Iโve chosen the work I want to do. If I find no joy in it, then Iโm only condemning myself to sixty years of torture. And I can find the joy only if I do my work in the best way possible to me. But the best is a matter of standardsโand I set my own standards. I inherit nothing. I stand at the end of no tradition. I may, perhaps, stand at the beginning of one.
Ayn Rand