--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As a basic step of self-esteem, learn to…" description: "\"“As a basic step of self-esteem, learn to treat as the mark of a cannibal any man’s demand for your help. To demand it is to claim that your life is hi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02f/ayn-rand-59_another-man_as-a-basic-step-of-self-esteem-learn-to_1319230.jpg" --- # As a basic step of self-esteem, learn to treat as the mark… ![“As a basic step of self-esteem, learn to treat as the mark of a cannibal any man’s demand for your help. To demand it is to claim that your life is his property – and loathsome as such claim might be, there’s something still more loathsome: your agreement. Do you ask if it’s ever proper to help…” quote by Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02f/ayn-rand-59_another-man_as-a-basic-step-of-self-esteem-learn-to_1319230.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02f/ayn-rand-59_another-man_as-a-basic-step-of-self-esteem-learn-to_1319230.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02f/ayn-rand-59_another-man_as-a-basic-step-of-self-esteem-learn-to_1319230.jpg) > ““As a basic step of self-esteem, learn to treat as the mark of a cannibal any man’s demand for your help. To demand it is to claim that your life is his property – and loathsome as such claim might be, there’s something still more loathsome: your agreement. Do you ask if it’s ever proper to help another man? No- if he claims it as his right or as a moral duty that you owe him. Yes- if such is your own desire based on your own selfish pleasure in the value of his person and his struggle. Suffering as such is not a value, only man’s fight against suffering is. If you choose to help a man who suffers, do it only on the ground of his virtues, of his fight to recover, of his rational record, or of the fact that he suffers unjustly; then your action is still trade, and his virtue is the payment for your help. But to help a man who has no virtues, to help him on the ground of his suffering as such, to accept his faults, his need, as a claim – is to accept the mortgage of a zero on your values. A man who has no virtues is a hater of existence who acts on the premise of death; to help him is to sanction his evil and to support his career of destruction. Be it only a penny you will miss or a kindly smile he has not earned, a tribute to a zero is treason to life and to all those who struggle to maintain it. It is of such pennies and smiles that the desolation of your world was made.”” [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self‑esteem requires helping only those whose virtues justify it; aiding the unvirtuous cheapens one’s values and supports destruction. **In simple terms:** Help only those who deserve it. Key Takeaway Help with discernment. Themes self‑esteem virtue responsibility values individualism Mood reflective critical serious Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - charitable work - mentmaking - supporting causes - political activism Key Concepts Objectivism moral philosophy virtue ethics Questions to Reflect On - How do you distinguish worthy aid from enabling harm? - What criteria guide your assistance? A Different Perspective It may be hard to judge virtue objectively, risking neglect of genuine need. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Another man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/another-man/) [Based Selfish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/based-selfish-2964747/) [Fight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fight/) [Fight Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fight-suffering-4390955/) [Man Virtues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-virtues-599921/) [Self esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-esteem/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Suffering Accept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering-accept-1928591/) [Suffering Value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering-value-4390954/) [Trade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trade/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [Love, friendship, respect, admiration are the emotional response of one man to the virtues of another, the spiritual payment given in exchange for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/love-friendship-respect-admiration-are-the-emotional-response-of-one/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“I have to cry out here that language is all we have for the delicacy and truth of telling, that words are the sole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/i-have-to-cry-out-here-that-language-is-all-we-have-for-the-delicacy/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [“biology is usually called upon to justify a society based on selfish principles, but we should never forget that it has also produced the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/biology-is-usually-called-upon-to-justify-a-society-based-on-selfish/) [Frans de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-de-waal/) > [“But there is no value to suffering! There is only value, said Derek, to overcoming suffering and seeking to spare others the suffering one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-there-is-no-value-to-suffering-there-is-only-value-said-derek-to/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [By saying "blessed are those who mourn", Jesus does not intend to declare an unfortunate and burdensome condition in life to be happy. Suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/by-saying-blessed-are-those-who-mourn-jesus-does-not-intend-to/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [There must be only three supreme values which govern a person's life: Reason, Purpose, and Self-esteem. Reason, as his only tool of knowledge--Purpose, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-must-be-only-three-supreme-values-which-govern-a-person-s-life/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“To live, man must hold three things as the supreme and ruling values of his life: Reason - Purpose - Self-esteem. Reason, as his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/to-live-man-must-hold-three-things-as-the-supreme-and-ruling-values/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [A man has virtues enough if he deserves pardon for his faults on account of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/a-man-has-virtues-enough-if-he-deserves-pardon-for-his-faults-on/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [“If a man be without the virtues proper to humanity, what has he to do with the rites of propriety? If a man be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/if-a-man-be-without-the-virtues-proper-to-humanity-what-has-he-to-do/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [A good book is the very essence of a good man. His virtues survive in it, while the foibles and faults of his actual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-l-cuyler/a-good-book-is-the-very-essence-of-a-good-man-his-virtues-survive-in/) [Theodore L. Cuyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-l-cuyler/) > [Party spirit enlists a man's virtues in the cause of his vices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-whately/party-spirit-enlists-a-man-s-virtues-in-the-cause-of-his-vices/) [Richard Whately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-whately/) > [No distinction is 'tween man and man, But as his virtues add to him a glory Or vices cloud him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-habington/no-distinction-is-tween-man-and-man-but-as-his-virtues-add-to-him-a/) [William Habington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-habington/) > [A friend exaggerates a man's virtues; an enemy inflames his crimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/a-friend-exaggerates-a-man-s-virtues-an-enemy-inflames-his-crimes/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [The good life for man is the life spent in seeking for the good life for man, and the virtues necessary for the seeking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-good-life-for-man-is-the-life-spent-in-seeking-for-the-good-life/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [I have always considered it as treason against the great republic of human nature, to make any man's virtues the means of deceiving him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/i-have-always-considered-it-as-treason-against-the-great-republic-of/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## More by Ayn Rand > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [She watched the prairies the rivers, the towns slipping past at an untouchable distance below - and she noted that the sense of detachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-watched-the-prairies-the-rivers-the-towns-slipping-past-at-an/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“This was reality, she thought, this sense of clear outlines, of purpose, of lightness, of hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-was-reality-she-thought-this-sense-of-clear-outlines-of-purpose/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/lobbying-is-the-activity-of-attempting-to-influence-legislation-by/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She moved her hand and let it rest against his. He did not withdraw his fingers and he did not pretend indifference. She bent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-moved-her-hand-and-let-it-rest-against-his-he-did-not-withdraw/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [This miracle of me is mine to own and keep, and mine to guard, and mine to use, and mine to kneel before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-miracle-of-me-is-mine-to-own-and-keep-and-mine-to-guard-and-mine/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“There was still one response, the greatest, that she had missed. She thought: To find a feeling that would hold, as their sum, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-was-still-one-response-the-greatest-that-she-had-missed-she/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Inflation is not caused by the actions of private citizens, but by the government: by an artificial expansion of the money supply required to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/inflation-is-not-caused-by-the-actions-of-private-citizens-but-by-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“We are fornicating in the sight of six billion people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-fornicating-in-the-sight-of-six-billion-people/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She was fifteen when it occurred to her for the first time that women did not run railroads and that people might object. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-was-fifteen-when-it-occurred-to-her-for-the-first-time-that-women/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Fransisco, you're some kind of very high nobility, aren't you?" He answered, "Not yet. The reason my family has lasted for such a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/fransisco-you-re-some-kind-of-very-high-nobility-aren-t-you-he/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/have-you-felt-it-too-have-you-seen-how-your-best-friends-love/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Every coercive monopoly was created by government intervention into the economy: by special privileges, such as franchises or subsidies, which closed the entry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/every-coercive-monopoly-was-created-by-government-intervention-into/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [We are all brothers under the skin - and I, for one, would be willing to skin humanity to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-all-brothers-under-the-skin-and-i-for-one-would-be-willing-to/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) [Explore all 1,777 Ayn Rand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## More Another man quotes > [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“I took ten days off and by 11 o’clock on the first morning I had drunk fourteen cups of coffee, read all the newspapers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-clarkson/i-took-ten-days-off-and-by-11-o-clock-on-the-first-morning-i-had/) [Jeremy Clarkson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-clarkson/) > [One day I woke up and Juventus wanted me, another Manchester United and what I know is that there were approaches made. But an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raul-jimenez/one-day-i-woke-up-and-juventus-wanted-me-another-manchester-united/) [Raul Jimenez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raul-jimenez/) > [“He often remembered his dad's admonition that envy was mental theft. If you coveted another man's possessions, Dad said, then you should be willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/he-often-remembered-his-dad-s-admonition-that-envy-was-mental-theft/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [Never break another man's rice bowl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akio-morita/never-break-another-man-s-rice-bowl/) [Akio Morita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akio-morita/) > [“One theory on cannibals, of course, is that they eat parts of their slain enemies to benefit from that person's greatest assets - their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-powell/one-theory-on-cannibals-of-course-is-that-they-eat-parts-of-their/) [Julie Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-powell/) > [I admire machinery as much is any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-admire-machinery-as-much-is-any-man-and-am-as-thankful-to-it-as-any/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“If you aren't in love, Willow Vaughn, then my name isn't Miriam Brigham." Willow started out of her daydreaming and glanced up from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-mcpherren/if-you-aren-t-in-love-willow-vaughn-then-my-name-isn-t-miriam-brigham/) [Charlotte McPherren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-mcpherren/) > [“One man accomplishment Is another mans failure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-sargent/one-man-accomplishment-is-another-mans-failure/) [Anthony Sargent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-sargent/) > [“Hell, I bet there's another man right now on the other side of this planet, standing in the pouring rain, fighting desperately for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/el-montes/hell-i-bet-there-s-another-man-right-now-on-the-other-side-of-this/) [EL Montes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/el-montes/) > [The perception of what we as professors provide has changed. Constant and demanding e-mails are just another manifestation of what our society has become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-payne/the-perception-of-what-we-as-professors-provide-has-changed-constant/) [Dan Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-payne/) > [Fighting, to me, seems barbaric. I don't really like it. I enjoy out-thinking another man and out-maneuvering him, but I still don't like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sugar-ray-robinson/fighting-to-me-seems-barbaric-i-don-t-really-like-it-i-enjoy-out/) [Sugar Ray Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sugar-ray-robinson/) > [The single greatest pleasure that I have in doing ('Bizarre Foods') is when I meet families with 6, 7, 8-year-olds, or teenagers, who say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-zimmern/the-single-greatest-pleasure-that-i-have-in-doing-bizarre-foods-is/) [Andrew Zimmern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-zimmern/) > [One man's vulgarity is another man's lyric.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-marshall-harlan-ii/one-man-s-vulgarity-is-another-man-s-lyric/) [John Marshall Harlan II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-marshall-harlan-ii/) > [“that of dealing death, of loosing another man’s soul and sending it down to hell. You want to savor it, to twist the blade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/that-of-dealing-death-of-loosing-another-man-s-soul-and-sending-it/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) [Browse all 1,112 Another man quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/another-man/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As a basic step of self-esteem, learn to treat as the mark of a cannibal any man’s demand for your help. To demand it is to claim that your life is his property – and loathsome as such claim might be, there’s something still more loathsome: your agreement. Do you ask if it’s ever proper to help another man? No- if he claims it as his right or as a moral duty that you owe him. Yes- if such is your own desire based on your own selfish pleasure in the value of his person and his struggle. Suffering as such is not a value, only man’s fight against suffering is. If you choose to help a man who suffers, do it only on the ground of his virtues, of his fight to recover, of his rational record, or of the fact that he suffers unjustly; then your action is still trade, and his virtue is the payment for your help. But to help a man who has no virtues, to help him on the ground of his suffering as such, to accept his faults, his need, as a claim – is to accept the mortgage of a zero on your values. A man who has no virtues is a hater of existence who acts on the premise of death; to help him is to sanction his evil and to support his career of destruction. Be it only a penny you will miss or a kindly smile he has not earned, a tribute to a zero is treason to life and to all those who struggle to maintain it. It is of such pennies and smiles that the desolation of your world was made.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ayn Rand" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/as-a-basic-step-of-self-esteem-learn-to-treat-as-the-mark-of-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Another man" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/as-a-basic-step-of-self-esteem-learn-to-treat-as-the-mark-of-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02f/ayn-rand-59_another-man_as-a-basic-step-of-self-esteem-learn-to_1319230.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02f/ayn-rand-59_another-man_as-a-basic-step-of-self-esteem-learn-to_1319230.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02f/ayn-rand-59_another-man_as-a-basic-step-of-self-esteem-learn-to_1319230.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As a basic step of self-esteem, learn to treat as the mark of a cannibal any man’s demand for your help. To…” — Ayn Rand", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ayn Rand", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“As a basic step of self-esteem,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/as-a-basic-step-of-self-esteem-learn-to-treat-as-the-mark-of-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/as-a-basic-step-of-self-esteem-learn-to-treat-as-the-mark-of-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```