Andrew Ryan famous quotes

Whenever anyone wants others to do their work they call upon their Altruism. 'Never mind your own needs,' they say, 'Think of the needs of... of whoever. Of the state. Of the poor. Of the Army, of the King. Of God.' The list goes on and on. How many catastrophes were launched with the words 'Think of yourself?' It's the king and country crowd who light the torch of destruction.
-- Andrew Ryan

#Country #Kings #Army

I am Andrew Ryan, and I am here to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? 'No,' says the man in Washington, 'it belongs to the poor.' 'No,' says the man in the Vatican, 'it belongs to God.' 'No,' says the man in Moscow, 'it belongs to everyone.' I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose Rapture.
-- Andrew Ryan

#Men #Sweat #Different

What is the difference between a man and a parasite? A man builds, a parasite asks 'Where's my share?' A man creates, a parasite says 'What will the neighbors think?' A man invents, a parasite says 'Watch out, or you might tread on the toes of God...
-- Andrew Ryan

#Men #Thinking #Differences

In what country is there a place for people like me?
-- Andrew Ryan

#Country #People

I believe in no God, no invisible man in the sky. But there is something more powerful than each of us, a combination of our efforts, a Great Chain of industry that unites us. But it is only when we struggle in our own interest that the chain pulls society in the right direction. The chain is too powerful and too mysterious for any government to guide. Any man who tells you different either has his hand in your pocket, or a pistol to your neck.
-- Andrew Ryan

#Powerful #Believe #Struggle

Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?
-- Andrew Ryan

#Men #Sweat #Brows

Stop, would you kindly? 'Would you kindly'. Powerful phrase. Familiar phrase? Sit, would you kindly? Stand, would you kindly? Run! Stop! Turn. A man chooses, a slave obeys. Kill! A man chooses! A slave obeys! OBEY!
-- Andrew Ryan

#Running #Powerful #Men

It was not impossible to build Rapture at the bottom of the sea. It was impossible to build it anywhere else.
-- Andrew Ryan

#Sea #Impossible #Rapture

Altruism is the root of all Wickedness
-- Andrew Ryan

#Roots #Wickedness #Altruism

To build a city at the bottom of the sea: insanity. But where else could we be free from the clutching hand of the parasites? Where else could we build an economy that they would not try to control, a society they would not try to destroy? It was not impossible to build Rapture at the bottom of the sea. It was impossible to build it anywhere else.
-- Andrew Ryan

#Hands #Sea #Cities

Commerce is the life blood of the City. If we are not careful, government will become the cancer.
-- Andrew Ryan

#Cancer #Government #Blood

My city was betrayed by the weak...
-- Andrew Ryan

#Cities #Betrayed #Weak

What would the Russian Bear and the American Eagle do if they discovered our paradise? Our secrecy is our shield!
-- Andrew Ryan

#Eagles #Paradise #Shields

Could I have made mistakes? One does not build cities if one is guided by doubt. But can one govern in absolute certainty? I know that my beliefs have elevated me, just as I know that the things I have rejected would have destroyed me. But the city... it is collapsing before my... have I become so convinced by my own beliefs that I have stopped seeing the truth? Perhaps. But Atlas is out there, and he aims to destroy me, and destroy my city. To question is to surrender. I will not question.
-- Andrew Ryan

#Mistake #Cities #Doubt

God did not plant the seeds of this Arcadia. I did.
-- Andrew Ryan

#Plant #Arcadia

Lacking its own ingenuity, the parasite fears the visionary. What it cannot plagiarize, it seeks to censor. What it cannot regulate, it seeks to ban.
-- Andrew Ryan

#Visionaries #Bans #Parasites

In the end what separates a man from a slave? Money? Power? No, a man chooses, and a slave obeys!
-- Andrew Ryan

#Men #Slave #Ends

With the sweat of your brow. Rap­ture can become your city as well.
-- Andrew Ryan

#Rap #Cities #Sweat

An artist strives to frame his ideals in an image; to challenge his audience and to make his vision immortal. But the parasites say 'no, your art must serve the cause... your ideals endanger the people!'
-- Andrew Ryan

#Art #People #Challenges

A free man chooses, a slave obeys
-- Andrew Ryan

#Men #Slave

A man has a choice.. I chose.. the impossible!
-- Andrew Ryan

#Men #Choices #Impossible

A man has a choice. I chose the impossible. I built a city where the artist would not fear the censor, where the great would not be constrain by the small, where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality. I chose to build Rapture. But my city was betrayed by the weak. So I ask you, if your life was priced would you kill the innocent? Would you sacrifice your humanity? We all make choices but in the end our choices make us.
-- Andrew Ryan

#Sacrifice #Artist #Men

Why worship a flag or a God, when we can worship that which is best in us: our will to be great.
-- Andrew Ryan

#Flags #Worship