A society that tolerates intimidation as a means of settling disputes…loses its moral rights to exist as a social system, and its collapse does not take long to follow.
You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.
- Topic: Accountability, Action, Choice
- Location: Lake Tahoe
- Photo: Jeffrey Benjamin
More Quotes from Ayn Rand
The United States of America is the greatest, the noblest and, in its original founding principles, the only moral country in the history of the world.
Let me give you a tip on a clue to men’s characters: the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it.
Since men are neither omniscient nor infallible, they must be free to agree or disagree, to cooperate or to pursue their own independent course, each according to his own rational judgment. Freedom is the fundamental requirement of man's mind.
When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing - When you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, butt in favors - When you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you - When you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice - You may know that your society is doomed.
More Quotes from Lake Tahoe
More on These Topics
Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself.
The individual is not accountable to society for his actions, insofar as these concern the interests of no person but himself.
If all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap, whence every one must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take their own and depart.
There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the induction of a new order of things.
The deepest sin against the human mind is to believe things without evidence.
A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.
The perils of overwork are slight compared to the dangers of inactivity.
We don’t choose to be role models; we are chosen. Our only choice is whether to be a good role model or a bad one.
Freedom is what we do with what is done to us.
The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action.
One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes.
I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime.
He who lets the world, or his own portion of it, choose his plan of life for him, has no need of any other faculty than the ape-like one of imitation.
Our life does not develop as a result of chance, but as a result of causes.
It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.
Free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or good or joy worth having.
You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.
Individuals are the sum of their unique experiences, challenges, and accomplishments. What matters is not the barriers they face, but how they choose to confront them. And their race is not to blame for everything—good or bad—that happens in their lives.
Freedom is not something that anybody can be given. Freedom is something people take, and people are as free as they want to be.