“Rearden heard Bertram Scudder, outside the group, say to a girl who made some sound of indignation, Don?t let him disturb you. You know, money is the root of all evil ? and he's the typical product of money.”
“Rearden did not think that Francisco could have heard it, but he saw Francisco turning to them with a gravely courteous smile.”
"Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?
"Money will not purchase happiness for the man who has no concept of what he wants: money will not give him a code of values, if he's evaded the knowledge of what to value, and it will not provide him with a purpose, if he's evaded the choice of what to seek. Money will not buy intelligence for the fool, or admiration for the coward, or respect for the incompetent. The man who attempts to purchase the brains of his superiors to serve him, with his money replacing his judgment, ends up by becoming the victim of his inferiors. The men of intelligence desert him, but the cheats and the frauds come flocking to him, drawn by a law which he has not discovered: that no man may be smaller than his money. Is this the reason why you call it evil?
"Money is your means of survival. The verdict you pronounce upon the source of your livelihood is the verdict you pronounce upon your life. If the source is corrupt, you have damned your own existence. Did you get your money by fraud? By pandering to men's vices or men's stupidity? By catering to fools, in the hope of getting more than your ability deserves? By lowering your standards? By doing work you despise for purchasers you scorn? If so, then your money will not give you a moment's or a penny's worth of joy. Then all the things you buy will become, not a tribute to you, but a reproach; not an achievement, but a reminder of shame. Then you'll scream that money is evil. Evil, because it would not pinch-hit for your self-respect? Evil, because it would not let you enjoy your depravity? Is this the root of your hatred of money?
"Let me give you a tip on a clue to men's characters: the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it." - Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Some time ago, when I started questioning my life and this system. I asked myself, "why does money rule the world?" I got my answer from this book. I understood that money is civilizations way of rewarding a man for his ability, his skills. I believe our world is moving towards a new era, where money has no worth; just like it does now. All of our money has no value behind it. Money for our generation is based on promises and credit. There is no gold to back our monetary system, it's just paper.
This book made me understand the world in so many ways. Many would say it's a capitalist book, and I agree. Capitalism to my knowledge served its purpose. Capitalism forced man to be the best they could be, because it's the only way to be rewarded.
I think Capitalism has lived its days, the powers in charge, wont let go of their old ways and greedy nature.
The universe; our world is all about change. I believe this change is coming soon.Atlas Shrugged is a 20th century master piece. Whenever our world starts looking like this
Atlas Shrugged will tell our story
I think Capitalism has lived its days, the powers in charge, wont let go of their old ways and greedy nature.
The universe; our world is all about change. I believe this change is coming soon.Atlas Shrugged is a 20th century master piece. Whenever our world starts looking like this
Atlas Shrugged will tell our story
Ayn Rand Quotes:
"A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others."
"Ask yourself whether the dream of heaven and greatness should be waiting for us in our graves - or whether it should be ours here and now and on this earth."
"Every man builds his world in his own image. He has the power to choose, but no power to escape the necessity of choice."
"It only stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting the sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master."
"Love is the expression of one's values, the greatest reward you can earn for the moral qualities you have achieved in your character and person, the emotional price paid by one man for the joy he receives from the virtues of another."
"Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver."
"Potentially, a government is the most dangerous threat to man's rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims."
"Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it. Do not count on them. Leave them alone."
"The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live."
"The truth is not for all men, but only for those who seek it."
"To say "I love you" one must first be able to say the "I."
"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force."
"What's the most deprave type of human being? The man without a purpose"
"Suffering was a senseless accident, it was not part of life as she knew it - Pain and ugliness are never to be taken seriously"
"There are things one must not contemplate. There is an obscenity of evil which contaminates the observer. There is a limit to what is proper for a man to see. He must not think of this, or look within it, or try to learn the nature of its roots."
"What is morality?
A: Judgment to distinguish right and wrong, vision to see the truth, courage to act upon it, dedication to that which is good, integrity to stand by the good at any price"
Thoughts & Dialogue
Dagny Taggart: "Her work was all she had or wanted. But there were times like tonight, when she felt that sudden, peculiar emptiness, which was not emptiness, but silence, not despair, but immobility, as if nothing within her were destroyed, but everything stood still. Then she felt the wish to find a moments joy outside, the wish to be held as a passive spectator by some work or sight of greatness. Not to make it, she thought, but to accept, not to begin, but to respond, not to create, but to admire. I need it to let me go on, she thought, because joy is one's fuel."
Francisco D'Anconia:
"You ought to discover some day that words have an exact meaning" "It's not advisable, James, to venture unsolicited opinions. You should spare yourself the embarrassing discovery of their exact value to your listener."
Dagny Taggart:
"The capacity for unclouded enjoyment, she thought, does not belong to irresponsible fools; an inviolate peace of spirit is not the achievement of a drifter; to be able to laugh like that is the end result of the most profound, most solemn thinking"
"You know, I think that only if one feels immensely important can one feel truly light"
"She did not know the nature of her loneliness. The only words that named it were: This is not the world I expected"
"The security of being first, with full sight and full knowledge of one's course - not the blind sense of being pulled into the unknown by some unknown power ahead. It was the greatest sensation of existence: Not to trust, but to know"
