[Ayn Rand - Objectivism]

I was first introduced to Ayn Rand through "The Fountainhead" - a narrative, in its simplest sense, that follows the tribulations of Howard Roark's career as an architect. Being born into an era that urges conformity, utility and pragmatism over the pursuit of self-fulfilment through a process of self-acknowledgement makes it difficult for Roarke to gain acceptance in a society full of cliches. However, Roarke confronts the world with a detached amusement, unflinching courage and  calm steadfastness that seems hopelessly unrealistic to the reader, yet resonates strongly at some level with ones conception of what it means to live a moral, self-aware life.  Here's a collection of some of my favorite ideas from "The Fountainhead" which are best enjoyed in their unadulterated form.

- [ A ] -

"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."

—Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged 35th anniversary edition

- [ B ] -

"Objectivism holds that reality exists independent from consciousness; that individual persons are in contact with this reality through sensory perception; that human beings can gain objective knowledge from perception through the process of concept formation; that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or rational self-interest; that the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual rights, embodied in pure laissez-faire capitalism; and that the role of art in human life is to transform man's widest metaphysical ideas, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form—a work of art—that he can comprehend and respond to."

—http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)

- [ C ] -

"I often think that he's the only one of us who's achieved immortality. I don't mean in the sense of fame and I don't mean that he won't die some day. But he's living it. I think he is what the conception really means. You know how people long to be eternal. But they die with every day that passes. When you meet them, they're not what you met last. In any given hour, they kill some part of themselves. They change, they deny, they contradict – and they call it growth. At the end there's nothing left, nothing unrevered or unbetrayed; as if there had never been any entity, only a succession of adjectives fading in and out on an unformed mass. How do they expect a permanence which they have never held for a single moment? But Howard – one can imagine him existing forever."

— Ayn Rand - The Fountainhead

- [ D ] -

[Dominique] "I used to travel a great deal. I always felt just like that [hating to be at a destination]. I've been told it's because I'm a hater of mankind."

[Howard Roarke] "You're not foolish enough to believe that, are you?"

[Dominique] "I don't know."

[Howard Roarke] "Surely you've seen through that particular stupidity. I mean the one that claims the pig is the symbol of love for humanity – the creature that accepts anything. As a matter of fact, the person who loves everybody and feels at home everywhere is the true hater of mankind. He expects nothing of men, so no form of depravity can outrage him."

[Dominique] "You mean the person who says that there's some good in the worst of us?"

[Howard Roarke] "I mean the person who has the filthy insolence to claim that he loves equally the man who made that statue of you and the man who makes a Mickey Mouse balloon to sell on street corners. I mean the person who loves the men who prefer the Mickey Mouse to your statue – and there are many of that kind. I mean the person who loves Joan of Arc and the sales girls in dress shops on Broadway – with equal fervor. I mean the person who loves your beauty and the women he sees in a subway – the kind that can't cross their knees and show flesh hanging publicly over their garters – with the same sense of exaltation. I mean the person who loves the clean, steady, unfrightened eyes of man looking through a telescope and the white stare of an imbecile – equally. I mean quite a large, generous, magnanimous company. Is it you who hate mankind, Mrs. Keating?"

 — Ayn Rand - The Fountainhead

- [ E ] -

'What you feel in the presence of a thing you admire is just one word - "Yes"... But the ability to say "Yes" or "No" is the essence of all ownership. It's your ownership of your own ego. Your soul, if you wish. Your soul has a single holistic function - the act of valuing. "Yes" or No", "I wish" or "I do not wish." You can't say "Yes" without saying "I".'

— Ayn Rand - The Fountainhead