An animal is equipped for sustaining its life; its senses provide it with an automatic code of action, an automatic knowledge of what is good for it or evil... Man has no automatic code of survival. His particular distinction from all other living species is the necessity to act in the face of alternatives by means of volitional choice.
Ayn RandIt 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 RandWhen men abandon reason, physical force becomes their only means of dealing with one another and of settling disagreements.
Ayn RandA โcollectiveโ mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of individual minds who are weak, meek, submissive and impotent โ who renounce their creative supremacy for the sake of the โwholeโ and accept humbly that the โwholeโsโ verdict โ we donโt get a collective super-brain. We get only the weak, meek, submissive and impotent collective mind.
Ayn Rand