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Man's need of self-esteem entails the need for a sense of control over reality – but no control is possible in a universe which, by one's own concession, contains the supernatural, the miraculous and the causeless, a universe in which one is at the mercy of ghosts and demons, in which one must deal, not with the unknown, but with the unknowable; no control is possible if man proposes, but a ghost disposes; no control is possible if the universe is a haunted house.

— Nathaniel Branden Mental Health versus Mysticism and Self-Sacrifice (1963)

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More quotes by Nathaniel Branden

I regard the judgment of people as a waste of time. I regard the judgment of behavior as imperative.

It would be hard to name a more certain sign of poor self-esteem than the need to perceive some other group as inferior.

The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem (1994)

Pride is the emotional reward of achievement. It is not a vice to be overcome but a virtue to be attained.

The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem (1994)

Rand always says, “Never pass up an opportunity to pass moral judgment.” Well I say: “Look for an opportunity to do something more useful instead.” Nobody was led to virtue by being told he was a scoundrel.

The policy of seeking values from human beings by means of force, when practiced by an individual, is called crime. When practiced by a government, it is called statism—or totalitarianism or collectivism or communism or socialism or nazism or fascism or the welfare state.

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It is not in the books of the Philosophers, but in the religious symbolism of the Ancients, that we must look for the footprints of Science, and re-discover the Mysteries of Knowledge.

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Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education.

Bertrand Russell

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