The man of authentic self-confidence is the man who relies on the judgment of his own mind. Such a man is not malleable; he may be mistaken, he may be fooled in a given instance, but he is inflexible in regard to the absolutism of reality, i.e., in seeking and demanding truth.

The man who does not value himself, cannot value anything or anyone.

You must be the kind of man who can get things done. But to get things done, you must love the doing, not the secondary consequences.

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.

Do you know the hallmark of the second-rater? It’s resentment of another man’s achievement.

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

Serenity comes from the ability to say Yes to existence. Courage comes from the ability to say No to the wrong choices made by others.

Self-esteem is reliance on one’s power to think… The man of authentic self-confidence is the man who relies on the judgment of his own mind.

No man can use his brain to think for another.

Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values.

My views on charity are very simple. I do not consider it a major virtue and, above all, I do not consider it a moral duty. There is nothing wrong in helping other people, if and when they are worthy of the help and you can afford to help them. I regard charity as a marginal issue. What I am fighting is the idea that charity is a moral duty and a primary virtue.

If it were true that men could achieve their good by means of turning some men into sacrificial animals, and … if I were asked to serve the interests of society apart from, above and against my own I would refuse… I would fight in the full confidence of the justice of my battle and of a living being’s right to exist.