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The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z

Book by Ayn Rand · 12 quotes · Men, Rights, Values

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The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z Quotes

“The men who are not interested in philosophy need it most urgently: they are most helplessly in its power. The men who are not interested in philosophy absorb its principles from the cultural atmosphere around them-from schools, colleges, books, magazines, newspapers, movies, television, etc. Who sets the tone of a culture? A small handful of men: the philosophers. Others follow their lead, either by conviction or by default.”

MenNeedsBookPhilosophySchoolCulturePrinciplesTelevisionCollegeHe ManPhilosopherConvictionNewspapersMagazinesAtmosphereToneEtcNot InterestedHandfulDefault
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“The right to vote is a consequence, not a primary cause, of a free social system - and its value depends on the constitutional structure implementing and strictly delimiting the voters' power; unlimited majority rule is an instance of the principle of tyranny.”

ValuesSocialCausesLibertyPrinciplesEconomicDependsConsequenceEconomicsVoteMajorityStructureTyrannyInstancePrimariesVotersUnlimitedRight To VoteSocial SystemsImplementingMajority Rule
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“The moral justification of capitalism does not lie in the altruist claim that it represents the best way to achieve 'the common good.' It is true that capitalism does -- if that catch-phrase has any meaning -- but this is merely a secondary consequence. The moral justification for capitalism lies in the fact that it is the only system consonant with man's rational nature, that it protects man's survival qua man, and that its ruling principle is: justice”

IfsMenWayDoeFactsLyingJusticeCommonMoralPrinciplesAchieveProtectSurvivalCapitalismConsequenceClaimsBest WayRationalPhrasesJustificationRulingCommon GoodConsonantsLaissez Faire Capitalism
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“America’s founding ideal was the principle of individual rights. Nothing more-and nothing less. The rest-everything that America achieved, everything she became, everything 'noble and just,' and heroic, and great, and unprecedented in human history-was the logical consequence of fidelity to that one principle.”

HumansAmericaIndividualPrinciplesRightsAchievementConsequenceIdealsNobleNovelistsUsaLogicalHeroicFoundingHuman HistoryFidelityUnprecedentedIndividual Rights
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“I can say-not as a patriotic bromide, but with full knowledge of the necessary metaphysical, epistemological , ethical, political and esthetic roots-that 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.”

WorldI CanCountryStatesAmericaPoliticalUnitedMoralPrinciplesUnited StatesRootsOriginalsPatrioticEthicalUnited States Of AmericaMetaphysicalFoundingWorld History
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“A majority vote is not an epistemological validation of an idea. Voting is merely a proper political device--within a strictly, constitutionall y delimited sphere of action--for choosing the practical means of implementing a society’s basic principles. But those principles are not determined by vote.”

MeanIdeasActionPoliticalPrinciplesVoteMajorityDeterminedPracticalsVotingDevicesSpheresValidationBasic PrinciplesImplementingMajority Vote
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“Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value.”

MenGivingAbleValuesWishDealsPrinciplesProduceMaterialsShapesToolsTradeGoodsObjectivismAtlasValue Of MoneyMoney Is The Root Of All EvilMoney Is EvilMoochers
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