Man's unique reward, however, is that while animals survive by adjusting themselves to their background, man survives by adjusting his background to himself.
Ayn RandManโs rights can be violated only by the use of physical force. It is only by means of physical force that one man can deprive another of his life, or enslave him, or rob him, or prevent him from pursuing his own goals, or compel him to act against his own rational judgment.
Ayn RandThe three values which men had held for centuries and which have now collapsed are: mysticism, collectivism, altruism. Mysticism โ as a cultural power โ died at the time of the Renaissance. Collectivism โ as a political ideal โ died in World War II. As to altruism โ it has never been alive. It is the poison of death in the blood of Western civilization, and men survived it only to the extent to which they neither believed nor practiced it.
Ayn Rand