No man may initiate the use of physical force against others. No man-or group or society or government-has the right to assume the role of a criminal and initiate the use of physical compulsion against any man. Men have the right to use physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use. The ethical principle involved is simple and clear-cut: it is the difference between murder and self-defense.

The greatest threat to mankind and civilization is the spread of the totalitarian philosophy. Its best ally is not the devotion of its followers but the confusion of its enemies. To fight it, we must understand it.

To be the kind of writer you want to be, you must first be the kind of thinker you want to be.

The government was set to protect man from criminals, and the Constitution was written to protect man from the government.

People want nothing but mirrors around them. To reflect them while they’re reflecting too ... Reflections of reflections and echoes of echoes. No beginning and no end. No center and no purpose.

It is easier to donate a few thousand to charity and think oneself noble than to base self-respect on personal standards of personal achievement.

But I don't think of you. - Howard Roark