To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say the 'I.'
Ayn RandRead
Ethics is a code of values which guide our choices and actions and determine the purpose and course of our lives.
Interpretation
Ethics shape our decisions and provide direction in life.
This quote by Ayn Rand emphasizes the importance of ethics as a foundational framework that influences our decisions, actions, and overall purpose in life. It suggests that the values we uphold guide us in navigating various choices and help define our life's journey.
In practice
During a lecture on personal development, one might say, 'Remember, ethics is a code of values which guide our choices and actions.'
To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say the 'I.'
The difference between animals and humans is that animals change themselves for the environment, but humans change the environment for themselves.
It 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.
What is the basic, the essential, the crucial principle that differentiates freedom from slavery? It is the principle of voluntary action versus physical coercion or compulsion.
One method of destroying a concept is by diluting its meaning. Observe that by ascribing rights to the unborn, i.e., the nonliving, the anti-abortionists obliterate the rights of the living.
I think that when in doubt about the truth of an issue, it's safer and in better taste to select the least numerous of the adversaries.
Psychoanalysis has taught that the dead β a dead parent, for example β can be more alive for us, more powerful, more scary, than the living. It is the question of ghosts.
When we are honest - that's my saying - if we are honest then we will reveal ourselves. But we do not have to make an effort to be individualistic, different from others.
Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence.
Anti-intellectualism has long been the anti-Semitism of the businessman.
It is quite clear that beauty does depend on one's culture and upbringing for certain kinds of beauty, pictures, literature, poetry and so on...But mathematical beauty is of a rather different kind. I should say perhaps it is of a completely different kind and transcends these personal factors. It is the same in all countries and at all periods of time.
I felt that no boy should have to depend either for his leg or his life upon the ability of his parents to raise enough money to bring a first-class surgeon to his bedside.
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