Quotes from Nathaniel Branden

Either you will make your life work, or your life will not work.

Doing more of what doesn't work doesn't work.

Tell me how a person judges his or her self-esteem and I will tell you how that person operates at work, in love, in sex, in parenting, in every important aspect of existence - and how high he or she is likely to rise. The reputation you have with yourself - your self-esteem - is the single most important factor for a fulfilling life.

The desire for self-esteem without integrity is like the desire for wealth without effort-a longing for the unearned.

If you have high self-esteem, you might still know times of emotional suffering, but less often and with faster recovery-your resilience is greater.

Self esteem is the reputation we acquire with ourselves.

There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self-esteem, the more likely one will be to treat others with respect, kindness, and generosity.

In any culture, subculture, or family in which belief is valued above thought, and self-surrender is valued above self-expression, and conformity is valued above integrity, those who preserve their self-esteem are likely to be heroic exceptions

A goal without an action plan is a daydream.

Set goals that don't feel all that easy, that challenge you, stimulate you, and give you a chance to stretch and push yourself. That is where the power of growth lies.

For the rational, psychologically healthy man, the desire for pleasure is the desire to celebrate his control over reality. For the neurotic, the desire for pleasure is the desire to escape from reality.

Productive achievement is a consequence and an expression of health, self-esteem, not its cause

An emotion is both a mental and a physical event.

The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance

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

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

Objectivism comes on, sometimes, as if the most important issue you have to understand is the issue of egoism versus altruism. But thats nowhere near the beginning of the process.

There is only one reality--the reality knowable to reason. And if man does not choose to perceive it, there is nothing else for him to perceive.

To attain "success" without attaining positive self-esteem is to be condemned to feeling like an imposter anxiously awaiting exposure.

When your principles seem to be demanding suicide, clearly it's time to check your premises.

The music that inspires the souls of lovers exists within themselves and the private universe they occupy. They share it with each other; they do not share it with the tribe or with society. The courage to hear that music and to honor it is one of the prerequisites of romantic love.

If we do have realistic confidence ... if we feel secure within ourselves, we tend to experience the world as open to us and to respond appropriately to challenges and opportunities. Self-esteem empowers, energizes, motivates. It inspires us to achieve and allows us to take pleasure and pride in our achievements.

There is no value-judgment more important to a man--no factor more decisive in his psychological development and motivation--than the estimate he passes on himself.

Faith is the commitment of one's consciousness to beliefs for which one has no sensory evidence or rational proof. When man rejects reason as his standard of judgement, only one alternative standard remains to him: his feelings. A mystic is a man who treats his feelings as tools of cognition.