Collectivism holds that the individual has no rights, that his life and work belong to the group (to "society," to the tribe, the state, the nation) and that the group may sacrifice him at its own whim to its own interests. The only way to implement a doctrine of that kind is by means of brute force - and statism has always been the poltical corollary of collectivism.

Romantic art is always stylized: the better the art, the cleaner and more attractive and intelligent the stylization.

A good novel is an indivisible sum; every scene, sequence and passage of a good novel has to involve, contribute to and advance all three of its major attributes: theme, plot, characterization.

Man's mind is his basic tool of survival.

Ideas, in a free society, are not a crime- and neither can they serve as the justification of a crime.

In order to be in control of your life, you have to have a purpose-a productive purpose.

Dagny, we can never lose the things we live for. We may have to change their form at times, if we've made an error, but the purpose remains the same and the forms are ours to make.