AtomicQuote

Leonard Peikoff Quotes

Providence, said Hitler to Rauschning, has ordained that I should be the greatest liberator of humanity. I am freeing men from the restraints of an intelligence that has taken charge; from the dirty a...

Leonard Peikoff

Providence, said Hitler to Rauschning, has ordained that I should be the greatest liberator of humanity. I am freeing men from the restraints of an intelligence that has taken charge; from the dirty a...

On this view, the individual has reality only as part of the group, and value only insofar as he serves it; on his own he has no political rights; he is to be sacrificed for the group whenever it—or i...

Leonard Peikoff

On this view, the individual has reality only as part of the group, and value only insofar as he serves it; on his own he has no political rights; he is to be sacrificed for the group whenever it—or i...

About Author
Leonard Sylvan Peikoff (; born October 15, 1933) is a Canadian American philosopher. He is an Objectivist and was a close associate of Ayn Rand, who designated him heir to her estate. He is a former professor of philosophy and host of a nationally syndicated radio talk show. He co-founded the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI) in 1985 and is the author of several books on philosophy.

In degree, however, the total state does differ from its predecessors: it represents statism pressed to its limits, in theory and in practice, devouring the last remnants of the individual.

Leonard Peikoff

In degree, however, the total state does differ from its predecessors: it represents statism pressed to its limits, in theory and in practice, devouring the last remnants of the individual.

The mental practice that underlies the anti-effort attitude is the act of evasion, of blanking out some fact of reality which one dislikes. This act constitutes the essence of irrationality and, there...

Leonard Peikoff

The mental practice that underlies the anti-effort attitude is the act of evasion, of blanking out some fact of reality which one dislikes. This act constitutes the essence of irrationality and, there...

To liberate humanity from intelligence, Hitler counted on the doctrines of irrationalism. To rid men of conscience, he counted on the morality of altruism. To free the world of freedom, he counted on...

Leonard Peikoff

To liberate humanity from intelligence, Hitler counted on the doctrines of irrationalism. To rid men of conscience, he counted on the morality of altruism. To free the world of freedom, he counted on...

The man who waits for reality to write the truth inside his soul waits in vain.

Leonard Peikoff

The man who waits for reality to write the truth inside his soul waits in vain.

[There is] a widespread approach to ideas which Objectivism repudiates altogether: agnosticism. I mean this term in a sense which applies to the question of God, but to many other issues also, such as...

Leonard Peikoff

[There is] a widespread approach to ideas which Objectivism repudiates altogether: agnosticism. I mean this term in a sense which applies to the question of God, but to many other issues also, such as...

Observe in this connection that the Nazis, correctly, regarded the power of propaganda as an indispensable tool.

Leonard Peikoff

Observe in this connection that the Nazis, correctly, regarded the power of propaganda as an indispensable tool.

This is the actual answer to Auschwitz. We are told insistently to remember the Holocaust. Eloquent, horrifying books describe the facts to us in every detail. The truth about a monstrous, historic ev...

Leonard Peikoff

This is the actual answer to Auschwitz. We are told insistently to remember the Holocaust. Eloquent, horrifying books describe the facts to us in every detail. The truth about a monstrous, historic ev...

Germany has been called the land of poets and philosophers. But its education offered the country no protection against the Sergeant Molls in its ranks.

Leonard Peikoff

Germany has been called the land of poets and philosophers. But its education offered the country no protection against the Sergeant Molls in its ranks.

German socialism had to overcome this private, that is, unrestrained and irresponsible view of property. All property is common property. The owner is bound by the people and the Reich to the responsi...

Leonard Peikoff

German socialism had to overcome this private, that is, unrestrained and irresponsible view of property. All property is common property. The owner is bound by the people and the Reich to the responsi...

Has been said that Nazism is not a philosophy but a passion for destruction. Destruction, however, cannot be achieved with the Nazi consistency or on the Nazi scale, except by means of a certain philo...

Leonard Peikoff

Has been said that Nazism is not a philosophy but a passion for destruction. Destruction, however, cannot be achieved with the Nazi consistency or on the Nazi scale, except by means of a certain philo...

The aspiring dictator may not be able to identify in philosophic terms the clash between reason and his particular schemes. But he, too, is aware of it. In some (usually unverbalized) form, he knows t...

Leonard Peikoff

The aspiring dictator may not be able to identify in philosophic terms the clash between reason and his particular schemes. But he, too, is aware of it. In some (usually unverbalized) form, he knows t...

The pre-Greek civilizations, never discovering the field of epistemology, had no explicit idea of a cognitive process which is systematic, secular, observation-based, logic-ruled; the medievals for ce...

Leonard Peikoff

The pre-Greek civilizations, never discovering the field of epistemology, had no explicit idea of a cognitive process which is systematic, secular, observation-based, logic-ruled; the medievals for ce...

We dare not brush aside unexplained a horror such as Nazism. If we are to avoid a fate like that of Germany, we must find out what made such a fate possible. We must find out what, at root, is require...

Leonard Peikoff

We dare not brush aside unexplained a horror such as Nazism. If we are to avoid a fate like that of Germany, we must find out what made such a fate possible. We must find out what, at root, is require...

Clarity is achieved when concretes are united by a concept and a concept is seen to be a union of those concretes. The two gravest breaches of clarity are: a set of unrelated instances that causes too...

Leonard Peikoff

Clarity is achieved when concretes are united by a concept and a concept is seen to be a union of those concretes. The two gravest breaches of clarity are: a set of unrelated instances that causes too...

Racial subjectivism holds that a man’s inborn racial constitution determines his mental processes, his intellectual outlook, his thought patterns, his feelings, his conclusions—and that these conclusi...

Leonard Peikoff

Racial subjectivism holds that a man’s inborn racial constitution determines his mental processes, his intellectual outlook, his thought patterns, his feelings, his conclusions—and that these conclusi...

Ayn Rand defines value as that which one acts to gain and/or keep.3 Value denotes the object of an action: it is that which some entity’s action is directed to acquiring or preserving

Leonard Peikoff

Ayn Rand defines value as that which one acts to gain and/or keep.3 Value denotes the object of an action: it is that which some entity’s action is directed to acquiring or preserving

The fundamental goal of education, writes Dewey, is the development of a spirit of social co-operation and community life.... The goal is to foster the child’s social capacity—by, among other things,...

Leonard Peikoff

The fundamental goal of education, writes Dewey, is the development of a spirit of social co-operation and community life.... The goal is to foster the child’s social capacity—by, among other things,...

When the country surrendered its educational institutions—in countless forms, direct and indirect, public and private, from nursery school on up—to the legion of Progressive educators spawned by Dewey...

Leonard Peikoff

When the country surrendered its educational institutions—in countless forms, direct and indirect, public and private, from nursery school on up—to the legion of Progressive educators spawned by Dewey...