 Altruism does not tell you to abstain from pursuing values. It tells you to pursue values in order to sacrifice them.
Nathaniel Branden
The Vision of Ayn Rand
A scientist cannot make a false theory true by closing his eyes to the data that contradict it.
Nathaniel Branden
The Vision of Ayn Rand
One does not know a philosophy if ones knows merely its conclusions, but not the reasoning that led to them.
Nathaniel Branden
"The Role of Philosophy" The Vison of Ayn Rand: The Basic Priciples of Objectivism
Philosophical principles are no substitute for thinking, yet many Objectivists act as if they were.
Nathaniel Branden
wikipedia
If you don't know what your goals are, don't be surprised when you don't attain them
Nathaniel Branden
Man moves from knowledge to more advanced knowledge, automatizing his identifications and discoveries as he proceeds--turning his brain into an ever more efficacious instrument, if and to the extent that he continues the growth process.
Nathaniel Branden
The Psychology of Self-Esteem
Overly "permissive" parents tend to produce highly anxious children. By this I mean parents who back away from any leadership role; who treat all family members as equal not only in dignity but also in knowledge and authority; and who strive to teach no values and uphold no standards for fear of "imposing" their "biases" on their children.
Nathaniel Branden
Six Pillars of Self Esteem
We do not hear the term 'compassionate' applied to business executives or entrepreneurs, certainly not when they are engaged in their normal work. Yet in terms of results in the measurable form of jobs created, lives enriched, communities built, living standards raised, and poverty healed, a handful of capitalists has done infinitely more for mankind than all the self-serving politicians, academics, social workers, and religionists who march under the banner of 'compassion.'
Nathaniel Branden
If we do not believe in ourselves- neither in our efficacy nor in our goodness- the universe is a frightening place.
Nathaniel Branden
Positive self-esteem operates as, in effect, the immune system of the consciousness, providing resistance, strength, and a capacity for regeneration. When self-esteem is low, our resilience in the face of life's adversities is diminished. We crumble before vicissitudes that a healthier sense of self could vanquish. We tend to be more influenced by the desire to avoid pain than to experience joy. Negatives have more power over us than positives.
Nathaniel Branden
The natural inclination of a child is to take pleasure in the use of the mind no less than of the body. The child's primary business is learning. It is also the primary entertainment. To retain that orientation into adulthood, so that consciousness is not a burden but a joy, is the mark of the successfully developed human being.
Nathaniel Branden
Persons of high self-esteem are not driven to make themselves superior to others; they do not seek to prove their value by measuring themselves against a comparative standard. Their joy is being who they are, not in being better than someone else.
Nathaniel Branden
It is generally recognized that creativity requires leisure, an absence of rush, time for the mind and imagination to float and wander and roam, time for the individual to descend into the depths of his or her psyche, to be available to barely audible signals rustling for attention. Long periods of time may pass in which nothing seems to be happening. But we know that kind of space must be created if the mind is to leap out of its accustomed ruts, to part from the mechanical, the known, the familiar, the standard, and generate a leap into the new.
Nathaniel Branden
Innovators and creators are persons who can to a higher degree than average accept the condition of aloneness. They are more willing to follow their own vision, even when it takes them far from the mainland of the human community. Unexplored places do not frighten them- or not, at any rate, as much as they frighten those around them. This is one of the secrets of their power. That which we call 'genius' has a great deal to do with courage and daring, a great deal to do with nerve.
Nathaniel Branden
Of all the judgments we pass in life, none is more important than the judgment we pass on ourselves.
Nathaniel Branden
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