I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction.

I am unwilling to be wholly good—and please don't regard me as wholly evil!

The verdict you pronounce upon the source of your livelihood is the verdict you pronounce upon your life.

What whip lashed them to their knees in shame and submission? The worship of the word "We.

There is nothing wrong in helping other people, if and when they are worthy of the help and you can afford to help them.

A rational man knows-or makes it a point to discover-the source of his emotions, the basic premises from which they come.

Ferris: Are you going to be as impractical as that? Rearden: The evaluation of an action as practical, Dr. Ferris, depends on what it is that one wishes to practice. Ferris: Haven't you always placed your self-interest above all else? Rearden: That is what I am doing right now.