The Virtue of Selfishness (Signet, 1964)

Ayn Rand · c. 1961–1964

Ayn Rand did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this book, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The book prints chapter headings its extracted text does not preserve, so the claims below are in the book's order but not grouped. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
No one may initiate physical force against others

Their wordsThe basic political principle of the Objectivist ethics is: no man may initiate the use of physical force against others.
Our reading
Seeking self-interest in production is morally different from seeking it in robbery

Their wordsThere is a fundamental moral difference between a man who sees his self-interest in production and a man who sees it in robbery.
Our reading
Racism is the lowest, crudest form of collectivism

Their wordsRacism is the lowest, most crudely primitive form of collectivism.
Our reading
A person should always be the beneficiary of their own action and act in their rational self-interest

Their wordsThe Objectivist ethics holds that the actor must always be the beneficiary of his action and that man must act for his own rational self-interest.

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