“Today I decided to be an atheist.” And then I proceeded to list why... I had decided that the concept of God is degrading to man... I had decided this: since they say that God is perfect and men can never be that perfect, the idea necessarily makes men low and imperfect and places something above him, which is totally wrong and untenable and I don’t know of any proof. Nobody has ever told me why God exists and nobody can tell me. It is obviously an invention, and since it’s rationally untenable and degrading to man, I am against it. It was all decided in one day.

- Ayn Rand. Biographical interviews (Ayn Rand Archives). https://newideal.aynrand.org/the-sacred-in-we-the-living.