--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You have no choice about your capacity to…" description: "\"You have no choice about your capacity to feel that something is good for you or evil, but what you will consider good or evil, what will give you joy ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/ayn-rand-59_capacity_you-have-no-choice-about-your-capacity-t_1567410.jpg" --- # You have no choice about your capacity to feel that… ![“You have no choice about your capacity to feel that something is good for you or evil, but what you will consider good or evil, what will give you joy or pain, what you will love or hate, desire or fear, depends on your standard of value.” quote by Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/ayn-rand-59_capacity_you-have-no-choice-about-your-capacity-t_1567410.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/ayn-rand-59_capacity_you-have-no-choice-about-your-capacity-t_1567410.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/ayn-rand-59_capacity_you-have-no-choice-about-your-capacity-t_1567410.jpg) > “You have no choice about your capacity to feel that something is good for you or evil, but what you will consider good or evil, what will give you joy or pain, what you will love or hate, desire or fear, depends on your standard of value.” [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. Our judgments of good and evil are shaped by personal values, not by any objective capacity to feel. **In simple terms:** Values determine what we see as good or bad. Key Takeaway Examine and refine your values. Themes philosophy ethics subjectivity Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal decision making - leadership - conflict resolution - self‑assessment - relationship building Key Concepts Value theory moral relativism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What values guide your judgments? - How can you test their fairness? A Different Perspective Values can be biased or socially conditioned, limiting objectivity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Capacity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capacity/) [Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) [Consider Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consider-good-617503/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Evil Consider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil-consider-2139959/) [Evil Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil-joy-5636828/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Good evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-evil/) [Hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hate/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Love or hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-or-hate/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Standards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/standards/) [Value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/value/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [Good is not the opposite of evil, joy is the opposite of evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ventura/good-is-not-the-opposite-of-evil-joy-is-the-opposite-of-evil/) [Michael Ventura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ventura/) > [When a person, group, or a government is speaking of necessary evils they must first realize that no evil is truly necessary. It may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-lee/when-a-person-group-or-a-government-is-speaking-of-necessary-evils/) [Aaron Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-lee/) > [“Anyone who thinks of Satan as evil should consider all the men, women, children, and animals who have died because it was "God's will."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-szandor-lavey/anyone-who-thinks-of-satan-as-evil-should-consider-all-the-men-women/) [Anton Szandor LaVey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-szandor-lavey/) > [“I am not ready to think of him as either insane or evil, to consider in full how I could love and have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-finnamore/i-am-not-ready-to-think-of-him-as-either-insane-or-evil-to-consider/) [Suzanne Finnamore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-finnamore/) > [“If that which we have found is the corruption of solitude, then what can men wish for save corruption? If this is the great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/if-that-which-we-have-found-is-the-corruption-of-solitude-then-what/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [I consider him a good person before undertaking any work thinking: what effect this will have on people I am sorry I am not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/i-consider-him-a-good-person-before-undertaking-any-work-thinking/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [I don't consider myself a very good actor. I'm not bad, but there's not a lot of range in characterizations for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-jon-benjamin/i-don-t-consider-myself-a-very-good-actor-i-m-not-bad-but-there-s-not/) [H. Jon Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-jon-benjamin/) > [Personally, I have always thought that anything that would help us all live longer, healthier lives is a good technology. 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Someone who wiretaps your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/to-me-a-good-friend-is-one-who-doesn-t-talk-but-who-listens-all-the/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [I know some say, let us have good laws, and no matter for the men that execute them: but let them consider, that though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-henry/i-know-some-say-let-us-have-good-laws-and-no-matter-for-the-men-that/) [Patrick Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-henry/) > [“Rozanov seemed to consider this. "Is good. What you did. It will be good for...others." There was something in Rozanov's eyes that caught Scott's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/game-changer-rachel-reid/rozanov-seemed-to-consider-this-is-good-what-you-did-it-will-be-good/) [Game Changer Rachel Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/game-changer-rachel-reid/) > [I've always been fussier than I can afford to be. I don't just want to do whatever it takes to be successful, I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-biggerstaff/i-ve-always-been-fussier-than-i-can-afford-to-be-i-don-t-just-want-to/) [Sean Biggerstaff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-biggerstaff/) > [I consider myself to be a good guy so it's not hard for me to play that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-consider-myself-to-be-a-good-guy-so-it-s-not-hard-for-me-to-play/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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. 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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 Capacity quotes > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [And you can't complain about kissing Emma Watson. Isn't that what everyone in the world wants to do? I've known Emma for a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-redmayne/and-you-can-t-complain-about-kissing-emma-watson-isn-t-that-what/) [Eddie Redmayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-redmayne/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [Man has an almost infinite capacity for taking things and people for granted and thereby missing out on the pleasure of being grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-has-an-almost-infinite-capacity-for-taking-things-and-people-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [I was only operating at about 80% of my capacity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lomu/i-was-only-operating-at-about-80-of-my-capacity/) [Jonah Lomu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lomu/) > [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [Assuming normal winter weather, we currently anticipate the coal markets to remain difficult through 2015; while we always strive to operate a full capacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-craft/assuming-normal-winter-weather-we-currently-anticipate-the-coal/) [Joe Craft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-craft/) > [Disappointment contains an appointment for doing much better. High expectations mean your higher capacity and belief in abilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasneem-hameed/disappointment-contains-an-appointment-for-doing-much-better-high/) [Tasneem Hameed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasneem-hameed/) > [For years mental health professionals taught people that they could be psychologically healthy without social support, that “unless you love yourself, no one else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-d-perry/for-years-mental-health-professionals-taught-people-that-they-could/) [Bruce D. 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