Ayn Rand
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Quotes.
A: Ayn Rand.
To know one's own desires, their meaning and their costs requires the highest human virtue: rationality.
The mind leads, the emotions follow.
The verdict you pronounce upon the source of your livelihood is the verdict you pronounce upon your life.
"I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." 
--John Galt in 'Atlas Shrugged' by Ayn Rand
It stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting sacrificial offerings.  Where there's service, there's someone being served.  The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters.  And intends to be the master.
Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where the gun begins. 
The right to agree with others is not a problem in any society; it is the right to disagree that is crucial. It is the institution of private property that protects and implements the right to disagree... 
To fear to face an issue is to believe the worst is true. 
To arrive at a contradiction is to confess an error in one's thinking; to maintain a contradiction is to abdicate one's mind and to evict oneself from the realm of reality. 
The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights, cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. 
There is a level of cowardice lower than that of the conformist: the fashionable non-conformist. 
Man's character is the product of his premises. 
To rest one's case on faith means to concede that reason is on the side of one's enemies- that one has no rational arguments to offer. 
The basic need of the creator is independence. The reasoning mind cannot work under any form of compulsion. It cannot be curbed, sacrificed or subordinated to any consideration whatsoever. It demands total independence in function and in motive. To a creator, all relations with men are secondary. 
Even if smog were a risk to human life, we must remember that life in nature, without technology, is wholesale death. 
The only purpose of education is to teach a student how to live his life-by developing his mind and equipping him to deal with reality. The training he needs is theoretical, i.e., conceptual. He has to be taught to think, to understand, to integrate, to prove. He has to be taught the essentials of the knowledge discovered in the past-and he has to be equipped to acquire further knowledge by his own effort. 
Economic power is exercised by means of a positive, by offering men a reward, an incentive, a payment, a value; political power is exercised by means of a negative, by the threat of punishment, injury, imprisonment, destruction. The businessman's tool is values; the bureaucrat's tool is fear. 
The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours. But to win it requires total dedication and a total break with the world of your past, with the doctrine that man is a sacrificial animal who exists for the pleasure of others. Fight for the value of your person. Fight for the virtue of your pride. Fight for the essence, which is man, for his sovereign rational mind. Fight with the radiant certainty and the absolute rectitude of knowing that yours is the morality of life and yours is the battle for any achievement, any value, any grandeur, any goodness, any joy that has ever existed on this earth." 
 -- John Galt quote ending Ayn Rand's last public speech (New Orleans Nov 1981)
B: van anderen.
Robert Heinlein
There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch: TANSTAAFL. 
Beware of altruism.  It is based on self-deception, the root of all evil.
Never appeal to a man's "better nature".  He may not have one.  Invoking his self-interest gives you more leverage.
Anyone can see a forest fire. Skill lies in sniffing the first smoke. 
The greatest productive force is human selfishness. 
To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods. 
There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him. 
No intelligent man has any respect for an unjust law. 
A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity. 
A human being shoud be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.  Specialization is for insects.
One man's "magic" is the other man's engineering. "Supernatural" is a null word.
If it can't be expressed in figures, it's not science; it is opinion.
What are the facts ?  Again and again -- what are the _facts_ ?  Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell", avoid opinion, care not what the neighbours think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history" -- what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts !
Stupidity can not be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation.Stupidity is not a sin, the victim can't help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal crime; the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.
Live and learn. Or you don't live long.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.
Taxes are not levied for the benefit of the taxed.
(From: The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress)
"[...] what ARE your political beliefs ?"
 "I'm a rational anarchist. [...] A rational anarchist believes that concepts such as 'state' and 'society' and 'government' have no existence save as physically exemplified in the acts of self-responsible individuals. He believes that it is impossible to shift blame, share blame, distribute blame... as blame, guilt, responsibility are matters taking place inside human beings singly and nowhere else. But being rational, he knows that not all individuals hold his evaluations, so he tries to live perfectly in an imperfect world... aware that his effort will be less than perfect yet undismayed by self-knowledge of self-failure." 
"Hear, hear !" I said. "'Less than perfect.' What I've been aiming for all my life."
"You've achieved it," said Wyoh. "Professor, your words sound good but there is something slippery about them. Too much power in the hands of individuals -- surely you would not want... well, H-missiles for example -- to be controlled by one irresponsible person ?"
"My point is that one person IS responsible. Always. If H-bombs exist -- and they do -- then some MAN controls them. In terms of morals THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A 'STATE'. Just men. Individuals. Each responsible for his own acts."
Nelson Mandela.
"Mandela's Speech" is aanzienlijk korter dan John Galt's speech, maar even krachtig.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. 
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. 
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? 
Actually, who are you NOT to be?

You are a child of God. Your playing ”small” does not serve the world. 
There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure about you. 
We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. 
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Mijn Credo.
De volgende 15 regels heb ik gedestilleerd uit een langere lijst, die ooit gepost is op de Extropians-mailinglist.
  • By adhering to a strong honest philosophy, you will remain guiltless, blameless, independent and maintain control over your life. Without a sound philosophy, your life will eventually crumble.
  • Fill your life with positive expectations. Demand the best. Attitude and desire contribute to 90% of your success. Anyone can learn the physical mechanics.
  • Keep an active mind, and continue to grow intellectually. You either grow or regress. Nothing stands still. 
  • High self-esteem can only come from moral productivity and achievement. The source of lasting happiness can never  come from outside yourself through consuming values - but  only from within yourself by producing values.
  • If your purpose of life is security, you will be a failure. Security is the lowest form of happiness.
  • Life operates in reverse action to entropy. Therefore the universe is hostile to life. Progress is a continued effort to swim against the stream.
  • Constantly strive to increase order and discipline in your life. Discipline usually means doing the opposite of what you feel like doing. Life is easy if you play it the hard way and hard if you try to play it the easy way.
  • Cherish time, your most valuable resource. You can never make up the time you lose. It's the most important value for any productive happy individual and is the only limitation to all accomplishment. To waste time is to waste your life. 
  • Be explicit and semantically precise in all communications,  agreements and dealings. Summarize and write down  important discussions... and make sure all sides agree.  Putting agreements in writing avoids misunderstandings.
  • Cut all ties with dishonest, negative or lazy people.
  • Religiously nourish your body with proper nutrition, exercise and rest.
  • Take full control of, and responsibility for, your conscious mind and all aspects of your life. Do not depend on others. Being incompetent or dependent in any part of your life or business opens you up to manipulation and irrationality.
  • The purpose of life is to delay, avoid and eventually reverse death.
  • There is no such thing as a good idea unless it is utilized.
  • The best way to get started is to get started. Do it now... and work every project to its conclusion with single-minded concentration.