Perhaps Rand's most popular adage: "Selfishness is a virtue." [1]

Rand called Altruism, a philosophy that says we have a moral duty to sometimes help others, a “basic evil”. [1]

"If you study reliable history, and not liberal, racist newspapers, racism didn’t exist in this country until the liberals brought it up". [1]

Rand justified exterminating Native Americans by calling them "savages", and saying that they deserved to be conquered because, "Any white person who brings the elements of civilization had the right to take over this continent." [1]

When discussing the Yom Kippur War of 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab nations, Rand described the war as "civilized men fighting savages". [1]

Rand did not believe in God and very explicitly said that she was an atheist. "It must be either reason or faith," she said in a 1979 interview, "I am against God for the reason that I don't want to destroy reason." [1][2]

"Let me stress this. The first question is not: What particular code of values should man accept? The first question is: Does man need values at all—and why?" [1]

Rand was adamantly pro-choice and sharply criticized Reagan, saying, "I urge you, as emphatically as I can, not to support the candidacy of Ronald Reagan. I urge you not to work for or advocate his nomination, and not to vote for him. My reasons are as follows: Mr. Reagan is not a champion of capitalism, but a conservative in the worst sense of that word—i.e., an advocate of a mixed economy with government controls slanted in favor of business rather than labor... This description applies in various degrees to most Republican politicians, but most of them preserve some respect for the rights of the individual. Mr. Reagan does not: he opposes the right to abortion. [1][2][3]

The philosophy of contemporary Satanism is largely based on Ayn Rand's philosophy. Anton LaVey, writer of The Satanic Bible, has admitted that his words were "just Ayn Rand’s philosophy with ceremony and ritual added... I give people Ayn Rand with trappings." LaVey was even accused of plagiarism due to the similarities between his "Nine Satanic Statements" and the John Galt speech in Atlas Shrugged. [1][2][3]

One of Rand's favorite lines was: “Tell me what a man finds sexually attractive, and I will tell you his entire philosophy of life.” [1]

Referring to the USSR, Rand said that she was "educated by the best propagandists of all.” [1]

In middle school, Rand resented another girl in class because she seemed to be both smart and popular, which she thought was impossible. So one day Rand asked her, "What is the most important thing in life to you?” And when the girl answered, "my mother," Rand turned away, disgusted. Later, as an adult, she called this exchange “the first most important event in my life socially”, and Rand further analyzed it, saying, “I had thought she was a serious girl and that she was after serious things, but she was just conventional and ordinary, a mediocrity, and she didn’t mean anything as a person.” [1]

In 1928, Rand started but never published a novel titled The Little Street, whose protagonist was based on William Hickman, a then-famous murderer known for dismembering and disemboweling a twelve-year-old girl. In Rand's notes, she wrote that the public's fascination with him was due to his refusal to accept conventional morals, and she described him as "a brilliant, unusual, exceptional boy." [1][2]

"There is no principle by which genocide—a crime against a group of men—can be regarded as morally different from (or worse than) a crime against an individual: the difference is only quantitative, not moral. It can be easily demonstrated that Communism means and requires the extermination—the genocide, if you wish—of a particular human species: the men of ability." [1]

Rand wrote in her book that accepting any government controls is “delivering oneself into gradual enslavement” [1], and she called those who support taxation and redistribution “looters” and “moochers”. [2]

"This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists’ tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the “hidden” confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists’ antagonism toward the gold standard." [1]

Rand considered her arch nemesis and opposite to be the philosopher Immanuel Kant, who she called, "the most evil man in mankind's history". [1] She also hated famed author C.S. Lewis, who she called an “abysmal bastard,” a “monstrosity,” a “cheap, awful, miserable, touchy, social-meta­physical mediocrity,” a “pickpocket of concepts,” and a “God-damn, beaten mystic.” [2]

Rand said, “No one helped me... nor did I think it was anyone’s duty to help me.” In fact, her family and American friends helped her quite a lot. She moved in with, and borrowed money from, relatives in Chicago, one of whom owned a theater where she watched hundreds of movies for free. Not even to mention all the help she received from her various acolytes. [1]

In 1949, Rand's 17-year-old niece asked to borrow $25, to which Rand responded with strict and extensive repayment terms, saying, "Now I will tell you why I am so serious and severe about this. I despise irresponsible people. I don’t want to deal with them or help them in any way." [1]

"In the late 1940’s, another newly coined term was shot into our cultural arteries: “McCarthyism.” Again, it was a derogatory term, suggesting some insidious evil, and without any clear definition. Its alleged meaning was: “Unjust accusations, persecutions, and character assassinations of innocent victims.” Its real meaning was: “Anti-communism.”" [1]

Rand thought that women, ideally, should be “hero worshippers” who submit themselves, body and soul, to great men. [1] She also said that she would not support a female candidate for president because women should not rule men: "It is not [in] a woman's personal interest to rule man. It puts her in a very unhappy position... I don't believe that any good woman would want that position." [2]

"It is true that the welfare-statists are not socialists, that they never advocated or intended the socialization of private property, that they want to “preserve” private property—with government control of its use and disposal. But that is the fundamental characteristic of fascism." [1]