A Companion to Ayn Rand Quotes

“Descartes concludes that the only certain basis for knowledge is the principle, cogito ergo sum, and he treats the existence and nature of a mind-independent world as an inference from a prior awareness of his own consciousness and its contents. Moreover, he holds that our most certain ideas are abstract and innate, whereas ideas based on perception are subject to doubt and uncertainty.”
― Allan Gotthelf, A Companion to Ayn Rand

“Contrary to rationalism, there are no a priori concepts; but contrary to empiricism, there are axiomatic concepts about which we can be certain; contrary to both schools, perception is not awareness of images, impressions, or sense data, but of objects that exist independent of our awareness of them.”
― Allan Gotthelf, A Companion to Ayn Rand

“The standard of man’s life is supposed to be objective because it is derived from the facts that give rise to the phenomenon of values. This derivation requires that the word “life” (or “survival”) in the standard be understood literally, in terms of the alternative between existence and non-existence.”
― Allan Gotthelf, A Companion to Ayn Rand

“Happiness, for Rand, is not mere pleasure or desire-satisfaction. It is that state of “non-contradictory joy” (Atlas 1022) that is the concomitant of achieving what one has rationally identified as objectively good.”
― Allan Gotthelf, A Companion to Ayn Rand