If some men do not choose to think, they can survive only by imitating and
repeating a routine of work discovered by others—but those others had to
discover it, or none would have survived. If some men do not choose to think or
to work, they can survive (temporarily) only by looting the goods produced by
others—but those others had to produce them, or none would have survived.
Regardless of what choice is made, in this issue, by any man or by any number
of men, regardless of what blind, irrational, or evil course they may choose to
pursue—the fact remains that reason is man’s means of survival and that men
prosper or fail, survive or perish in proportion to the degree of their
rationality.