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Nothing can be reasonable or beautiful unless it’s made by one central idea, and the idea sets every detail. A building is alive, like a man. Its integrity is to follow its own truth, its one single theme, and to serve its own single purpose.

— Ayn Rand Howard Roark in The Fountainhead (1996)

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Honesty

More quotes by Ayn Rand

“Free competition enforced by law” is a grotesque contradiction in terms.

A world where the thought of each man will not be his own, but an attempt to guess the thought of his neighbor.

Ellsworth Toohey in The Fountainhead (1943)

Today, racism is regarded as a crime if practiced by a majority—but as an inalienable right if practiced by a minority.

The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (1971)

Racism is the lowest, most crudely primitive form of collectivism.

The Virtue of Selfishness (1964)

I shall love and respect, but neither command nor obey.

Anthem (1938)

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You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can't lead to a good conclusion.

Julian Assange

False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.

Socrates

It is better to be poor and walk in integrity than to be stupid and speak lies.

Solomon

Who dares think one thing, and another tell,
My heart detests him as the gates of hell.

Homer Iliad (-750)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Ayn Rand (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.