My Vision Book & Alex Fishgoyt

"With a sad face :-( " It has been a year since I’ve written anything on this particular blog. I’ve been writing and creating new adventures for myself to keep the mind busy. You can see by clicking on the links to the right of this blog or follow me on twitter @TianaLuz19
My resolution for this year 2012 is to keep writing and creating, but balancing all. Focusing on each one at a time, but creating and completing many. So, let me tell you how this new blog started.
I started a Vision Book :-). Yes, many have a vision board, but my living arrangements at the moment limit my space for a board, so I decided to start a book. It was given to me by my dear friend Kerry. It was a sign from above when I read these words on the cover:

Only as high
As I reach
Can I grow

Only as far
As I seek
Can I go,

Only as deep
As I look
Can I see,

Only as much
As I dream
Can I be.




So I take my book with me everywhere. And as I’m looking through the pages, I see this picture of a painting I cut out of one of many magazines I’ve gone through to create my life changing vision book.

The painting is from Alex Fishgoyt. This painting is one of many in his collection, which I plan to put through out my future new home.
Alex Fishgoyt is a Russian-American painter who lives in New York. His style of painting reminds me of Josephine Wall’s style of painting. How one image becomes many and yet, they are all one. I like the type of art which can be defined in different ways by many who lay their eyes on them. And not just for one minute, but many minutes in a lifetime.
I created a quick slideshow for you guys to view his art. He is one of the most talented artists my eyes have the pleasure of seeing, simply because I was born in this century. Visit his website and create a unique and inspiring space for yourself with his amazing art. I know I will.

The Real Avatar - The Last Airbender

I wrote a blog about The Avatar - The last Airbender some time ago; before I even knew Avatar was in the movie theaters. I was tricked! lol the whole time I'm thinking Avatar was the last airbender, but as I kept seeing the previews I realized the name was taken from the Real Avatar, the Avatar I'm about to write about at this very moment.
I started my research and found out The Avatar - The Last Airbender; my favorite cartoon on Television will be coming to our theaters on July 2nd, 2010.
The day has come and I'm so excited to see this movie. I will be taking the person who introduced me to this cartoon, my friend Ka'saun to see it next weekend. Once the chaos has settled a bit. This is the only way to grasp all the messages and teachings of this great story. When everything is quite and you are taken to a world where the fire tribe, water tribe, earth tribe and Aang (The last airbender) fight to keep their cultures alive; the fire nation is approaching and they must defend their roots.
Within the story there is sweet innocent love, true friendship, hope, family values, brother's love, courage, hate, sadness and one of the most important messages "Wisdom". I am forever thankful for the messages of courage and inspiration given to me through this magnificent story.
The Last Airbender is a live action film directed by M. Night Shyamalan that is based on the first season of the animated television series *Avatar: The Last Airbender. It is the first of a planned trilogy for each of the television seasons. The film originally shared the title of the television series, but it was changed to The Last Airbender because the producers were worried it would be confused with the James Cameron film Avatar. The Last Airbender stars Noah Ringer as Aang, Dev Patel as Zuko, Jackson Rathbone as Sokka, and Nicola Peltz as Katara. Iroh is played by Shaun Toub and Firelord Ozai by Cliff Curtis. *last pargraph from wikipedia.

I will be purchasing the 3 book collection soon. It's one of my dreams is to give it as a gift to the beautiful children in my life. I know for a fact the message will keep their hearts strong for years to come. Following are my favorite quotes and dialogues:


Katara: [opening narration] Water... Earth... Fire... Air. Long ago, the 4 nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all 4 elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he still has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world.


Sokka: I'm sorry. I treated you like a girl when I should have treated you like a warrior.
Suki: [kisses Sokka on the cheek] I am a warrior, but I'm a girl, too.


Earth Bender: Surrender yourselves! It's five against two. You're clearly outnumbered.
Uncle Iroh: That's true. But you are clearly outmatched.


Prince Zuko: [to Katara] You rise with the moon. I rise with the sun.


Ursa, Zuko's Mother: Zuko, please, my love, listen to me. Everything I've done, I've done to protect you. remember this, Zuko. No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are.


Uncle Iroh: I know your not supposed to cry over spilled tea, but
[cries]
Uncle Iroh: it's just so sad!

Mark Twain's Last Trilogy - 100 Years After Death

I was thrilled to find out at my Self Publishing Class that Mark Twain will be publishing his last words on paper as a trilogy (3 books) 1/5 million words to be exact. In 1910 (year of his death) he left instructions for this book to be published 100 years after his passing.
It's 2010 and I'm extremely excited to be reading what I think would be his Magnum Opus.
I've read the reviews regarding the first part of his trilogy being publish in Nov. 2010. I'm definitely curious to know what he thought about the world and the things he could not say or express back in 1910; when our world was very different and most subjects were taboo.

When I first heard of Mark Twain it was from one of his many quotes. Quotes have always fascinated me and his quotes are my favorites. Very controversial for his time and his honesty always brought a smile to my face. Back in my country they would play on T.V. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Being 9 years old in an all Spanish speaking country; the old Tom Sawyer tales were not entertaining, well T.V was not much entertaining for me. I was more interested in exploring the world and riding my bike with friends; but when I realized  6 years later that Mark Twain was the writer behind the story; I figured his writing has been following me since childhood and when this things happen in my life, when things just connect, I just can't ignore them.
Following are my favorite quotes form Mark Twain:


A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.

A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away. He must have time to modify his shape.

Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.


Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.

Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.

Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.

Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.

Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.

Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned.

Grief can take care if itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.

Humor is mankind's greatest blessing.

I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.

I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell - you see, I have friends in both places.



If the world comes to an end, I want to be in Cincinnati. Everything comes there ten years later.

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.

It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.


It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.


Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.

My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.

Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.

Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is hollering about.

The Vision of Escaflowne - Best Quotes

Here I am again to report great messages in movies, books, songs or whatever has words in them. This time my feet took me to my local library; I love this place. Free movies, great books; you can even learn a new language and I check them all out for free. Look around your city for the closest library, get your card and explore the world and messages found within those walls.

So there I am looking for movies to watch and of course I have to read through the Anime collection. I figure I should give a new Anime a chance and my hand pick up The Vision of Escaflowne.

Great pick I must say, the story line completely took me into an unknown world where the earth is called the Mystic Moon and its seen above in their sky. This planet is called Gaea.

The Anime is fun, it keeps you glued to what's to come next. It has a great message around trusting your intuitions and mastering the mind so that your thoughts can't have the power to become true, because if you think about something long enough; it will become your reality. Its an all around great story line, I expected similar plots but I was completely blown away. All characters are so different, with great goals and dreams. There is war, love, jealousy, confusion, betrayal, friendship, broken hearts; a great mix of emotions for a great story. Plus is all delivered with sweet and smart dialogue; this is the most important fact. The dialogue is very interesting and captivating, full of messages that we can all relate to on a day to day basis.
This is one Anime that came into my hands and my heart just at the right time. I've already witness the impact of their words in someone very close to me. Sometimes you might repeat something to someone, many times; but the words only get through at the right time to stay and heal you forever. Not surprise to find out that Yoko Kanno & Hajime Mizoguchi composed and produced the series soundtrack. Yoko Kanno's productions will always transport you into that world being portrait by these great Anime producers and writers. She is also behind the music in Cowboy Bebop and The Ghost in the Shell

I will keep adding more quotes as I go on finishing the 26 episodes that make up the entire series. It's just something I must do before I see the movie; which looks a bit changed. Following are my favorite quotes from Vision of Escaflowne:

"I want Van to live! I will stay with him. Until he realizes he is not alone... until his sorrow is no more... I will stay by his side. There is no sorrow that never ceases. I want to believe that. Just as the rain will eventually stop and reveal a blue sky that we both can see." - Hitomi Kanzaki

"I too am alone. It's sad being alone. It's painful. I felt that way too. But if we're together, at times we may hurt each other, and we may even part. But, that is not the end. I'll always be with you."-Hitomi Kanzaki

 "Conflict may erupt at anytime in any place, war is the destiny of which humanity can never wash its hands"

"Earth - all bodies share a common principal, based on their masses, bodies create a force which draws them together and other bodies together. That is gravity"

"If you go around with that nervous look on your face something bad is going to happened to you. Anyways is not like you to be depressed"

"The uneasy feelings lurking in your heart are calling forth a sad reality. Trust your feelings and your wishes will always come true"

"I will be alright if you believe, people's emotions sometimes moves the heavens, but when those emotions conflict; it can cause great ill will. If people just rid themselves of that, they can change"

"There is something that I've learned. I don't believe in pre-meditated fate"

"This love they have for each other. This emotion of theirs...does it surpass even that fate of war which is born of man? Can a single moment last forever? This moment created by two easily swayed human hearts?"



Check out The Vision of Escaflowne movie trailer next.

Cowboy Bebop - Best Quotes

Cowboy Bepop...there are times when I've gone years without watching Cowboy Bepop and for some strange reason my mind, my memories take me back to that sweet old Jazz sound on this great anime series. Once Session #1 "Asteroid Blues" comes on, my mind transports itself to great times in my life, with great people and most of the time all by myself.
Cowboy Bebop is a 1998 anime series directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, written by KeikoNobumoto and produced by Sunrise. Soundtrack is done by Yoko Kanno & The Seatbelts. Music is amazing and the way in which each song is match with each episodes is truly an art.
The storyline is set in the year 2071. At this point in time flying ships cruise the universe and people are able to go to different planets, maybe one day we might get there. Each character has its own story, which unfolds with each episode. I don't believe it's a kids anime. It's anime for adults, with adult stories and adult dialogue. This is what I truly love about some animes they are cartoons for adults.

The adventures of the crew of the spaceship Bebop are a partnership of bounty hunters,called "cowboys", who travel the Solar System trying to apprehend bounties. Some of the Bebop's varied targets include small time thugs, gangsters, hackers known as ("net divers" in slang), religious leaders, psychopaths, genetic experiments, mutant creatures and petty thieves.

If you are someone who loves good jazzy and rock & roll beats, adult dialogue for the mind & someone who can step out of the box, then you will get great pleasure from watching this anime series. Following are my favorite quotes from Cowboy Bebop.

Jet Black: "Humans were meant to work and sweat to earn a living. Those who try to get rich quick or live at the expense of others, all get divine retribution somewhere along the line. That's the lesson. Unfortunately we quickly forget the lessons we've learned and then we have to learn them all over again. - (Toys in the attic)

"Everything has a beginning and an end. Life is just a cycle of starts and stops. There are ends we don't desire, but they're inevitable, we have to face them. It's what being human is all about."

" I started wailing the blues when the doctor whacked my bottom on the day I was born."

"I’m Jet Black, 36 years old. I’m often told I don’t look 36, but you shouldn't judge people based on appearances… or on how much hair they have."

Spike Spiegel: "Once, there was a tiger striped cat. This cat, died a million deaths, revived and lived a million lives. And he had various owners that he didn't really care about, the cat wasn't afraid to die. Then ONE day, he met a white female cat, the two of them fell in love and lived together happily. Well, the year's went by and the white female cat got old and passed away. The Tiger Striped cat cried a million times, then he also died. But this time.....he didn't come back."

"Look at my eyes, Faye. One of them is a fake because I lost it in an accident. Since then, I've been seeing the past in one eye and the present in the other. So, I thought I could only see patches of reality, never the whole picture. I felt like I was watching a dream I could never wake up from. Before I knew it, the dream was over."

"Hunger is the best spice they say."

Dialogues 

Faye Valentine: Why do you have to go? Where are you going? What are going to do, just throw your life away like it was nothing?
Spike Spiegel: I'm not going there to die. I'm going to find out if I'm really alive. I have to do it, Faye.

Jet Black: When you and I first met, you told me something. You said that you had died once, that you had seen death. Why can't you just let it go? Forget the past.
Spike Spiegel: There was a woman, first time I'd found someone who was truly alive. At least, that's what I thought. She was... the part of me I'd lost somewhere along the way, the part that was missing, that I'd been longing for.

Vicious: You should see yourself. Do you have any idea what you look like right at this moment, Spike?
Spike Spiegel: What?
Vicious: A ravenous beast. The same blood runs through both of us. The blood of a beast who wanders, hunting for the blood of others.
Spike Spiegel: I've bled all that kind of blood away.
Vicious: THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?

Meifa: The Universe is composed of the three chi
One is the chi of heaven, the power that comes from The Sun
And one is the chi of earth, the power comes from the planet we all live on. And the last one is the magnetic field that comes from living organisms like us.
Jet: you mean human chi?
Mefia: Yes, from the human body, each body produces a magnetic field, which interacts with the magnetic field from the earth and thats what creates the energy we all use.
Universal Fung Shui is the science that reads this natural energies and applies them to everyday life. - (Boogie Woogie Fung Shui) Session #21 

Cop: Anyways, what were you trying to achieve by blowing everything up?
Teddy Bomber: I only wanted to send out a warning against the needless waste created by capitalism without philisophy, the needless circulation of slanted media and needless tall buildings that symbolize all of this. You see, by distroying this monoliths I intended to remind the world of what the pioneering spirit is all truely about. - (Cowboy Funk) Session #22

Spike: Why do you kill off the members of your own group? whats the point of that?
Dr. Londes: I'm not forcing anything on anyne, they are mearly practicing a faith they to believe in on their own free will. Tell me..why do you think people believe in God, because they want. It's not easy living in such an ugly corrupt world, there is sympathy or nothing to hope for. People are lost so they reach out, don't you get it? God didn't create humans, now its humans who created God.
Dr. Londes: Do you know what the greatest and worst invention that humans ever made was? Television. Television controls people using information and steals their sense of reality. Yes. Now television itself its become the new religion. Television has created the people who believe instantly in dramatic fantasy, who can be controlled by tiny dots of light.
(Jet & Ed arrest him)
Jet: It was all a kid's dream, I guess all he could do was dream. So his dreams turned dark.
Ed: And this time I hope he has sweet dreams.
Dr. Londes: The souls that God has given us, Our spirits. Our spirits which found a way to swim through the immense network can live in the infinity of space. Is not the human body a mere shell, a form of existence all too small and weak for consciousness with such vast reach and potential. (Brain Scratch) Session # 23

Jet: Have you heard the story. A man injures his leg during a hunt, he is in the middle of the Savanna, no means to treat the wound. The leg rods and death approaches. Last minute he is picked up by an airplane, he looks down and sees a land of pure white below him glistening in the light. The mountain is Kilimanjaro, as he gazes down he feels the life flying out of him, and he thinks. That's where he was heading.
Spike: And?
Jet: I hate stories like that. Man only think about the past right before their death as if they were searching frantically for proof that they were alive. (The Real Folk Blues) Session # 25


Shaman: All living things, every being that walks and breath, each has it own star. When a life is born a new star appears, that is the guardian star, the star that warms this planet. If someone's guardian star is well, the red star you see overhead, the blue star on the horizon and when a life ends, the star falls and disappears.
Jet: Don't say that?
Shaman: His star is about to fall, I have dreamed it.
Jet: This is ridiculous, what am I doing here.
Shaman: Do not fear death. Death is always at your side. When you show fear, it will spring at you faster than light. But if we do not show fear, it cast its eyes upon us gently, and then guides us into infinity.

Random Quotes

"remember Vicious, a snake can't eat a dragon"

Live Action MovieOn 22 July 2008, IF Magazine published an article on its website regarding a rumor of a live-action Cowboy Bebop movie in development by 20th Century Fox. Producer Erwin Stoff said that the film's development was in the early stages, and that they had "just signed it". Keanu Reeves has been confirmed as playing the role of Spike Spiegel.Variety confirmed on 15 January 2009, that the production company Sunrise Animation will be "closely involved with the development of the English language project." The site also confirmed Kenji Uchida, Shinichiro Watanabe, and series writer Keiko Nobumoto as associate producers, series producer Masahiko Minami as a production consultant, and Peter Craig as screenwriter.It is currently slated for release in 2011. - Last paragraph Taken from Wikipedia

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man - John Perkins

Sometime ago in my highscool years. I was very much into Conspiracy Theories. This was due to all my years feeling that something is wrong with this world.
I came across this book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
by John Perkins. I'm not sure how this book came into my hands, but it did at a time in my life when I was mad at the world. I smile as I say this, because this is something every teenager can relate to. I wanted the knowledge require to change the world and this is how I still feel, I handle my anger better now a days.
The book was dedicated to someone very close to me and my country. He was my mother's favorite president. Here is John Perkins words of dedication:

"I wrote that in 1982, as the beginning of a book with the working title, Conscience of an Economic Hit Man. The book was dedicated to the presidents of two countries, men who had been my clients, whom I respected and thought of as kindred spirits—Jaime Roldós, president of Ecuador, and Omar Torrijos, president of Panama. Both had just died in fiery crashes. Their deaths were not accidental. They were assassinated because they opposed that fraternity of corporate, government, and banking heads whose goal is global empire. We EHMs failed to bring Roldós and Torrijos around, and the other type of hit men, the CIA-sanctioned jackals who were always right behind us, stepped in."

On December 20th 1989 I was five years old. I heard bombs early in the morning, it was still dark. My mother had sent me to my aunt's house, she lived right near Tocument International Airport at the time.
The bombs were so loud the ground would shake. My 3 cousins and I spent hours under the bed, hearing bombs and the mob in the streets screaming. For a 5 year old it seemed like the end of the world. Now I remember this time in my life as a movie; but as I got older I could see the change and the nightmare that had just started for my country on that December month in 1989.
The ones in power do not bomb your country and take their weapons back. They leave them there so the killing can continue; but its easier now. They don't have to fire the guns; we fire them against each other. Murder rates and suicides in my country sky rocketed after 1989.
This book opened up my eyes to what might be the truth, specially after Manuel Noriega became "chief executive officer" right after Omar Torrijos was killed in an "accidental" plane crash. Manuel Noriega was a CIA agent at the time.
The president of Ecuador Jaime Roldós was killed a month before, the same year (1981)in an "accidental" plane crash. Jiame Roldos was opposing U.S. oil companies and displeasing the U.S. government while Omar Torrijos opposed U.S. interest in the control of the Panama Canal. Omar Torrijos died, but he gave us our country back before he did. Thank you.

This brings me to...why did I write this blog? Well this book, the story, is a part of me and so I leave some of my thoughts here.
Question everything and don't be afraid to ask, even if you ask yourself the answers will come. Maybe a book, video, or a song will bring the answer.
This was a great book, I really enjoyed it. The stories in this book are not only the ones from these two great presidents, but it goes as far out as the Middle East.
Economic Hitmans were there first, now there is war.

Don Miguel Ruiz - Toltec Wisdom

Great truth is found in Don Miguel Ruiz's books. I can honestly say I'm a happier person because of them. One of my favorite books
The Four Agreementsmade it possible for me to get over those situations in life that seem so big that our life feels out of track , but it's all part of our creation. The key is train our minds to substitute negative thoughts and ways to release that energy in a more positive way. One of the agreements that impacted me the most is:
"Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering."
Everyone is a universe, no universe is like mine. I learned to detach myself from situations I had no control over. People's behaviors that didn't reflect my personality or what I stand for would create an illusion in which I was the only one with something worthy to say. Reflecting back on my feelings and coming across this book at the perfect time made me realize that everyone has divine timing encoded in their DNA, and focusing on how fast someone else could find their way was draining my energy. Life has a way of bringing into our lives clues that could help our current situation, we just have to look & listen; be present in all you do, our actions lay the tracks to our future. I still care dearly for the opinion of those closest to me and I listen, but I know their world will never be the beautiful dream that is mine.

---

Thousands of years ago, the Toltec were known throughout southern Mexico as women and men of knowledge. Anthropologists have spoken of the Toltec as a nation or a race. But the Toltec were scientists and artists who formed a society to explore and conserve the spiritual knowledge and practices of the ancient ones. It may seem peculiar that they combined the secular with the sacred, but the Toltec considered science and spirit to be the same since all energy, whether material or ethereal, is derived from the same source and governed by the same universal laws.

Toltec knowledge arises from the same essential unity of truth as all the sacred esoteric traditions around the world. Though it is not a religion, it honors all the spiritual masters who have taught on the earth. Though it does embrace spirit, it is most accurately described as a way of life. Unlike our familiar experience, this way of life is distinguished by the ready accessibility of happiness and love.

The Avatar - The Last Airbender

While growing up, I was very happy with the cartoon selection playing on my T.V. I couldn't wait to get off school to sit and watch my favorite shows: ThurnderCats, Dragon Ball Z, Knights of the Zodiac were one of my favorites. The mid 90's to me was the start of the Anime Revolution for many of us; I've never seen cartoons being drawn so good, so detailed, with powerful dialogue and true meaning to them, but as the years went by, a poor selection of cartoons, bad drawing and dialogue started emerging. Whether it was from T.V. Radio or Movies.
I felt sad for the new generation, because I thought their childhood is lacking fantasy and hope; its lacking honor, originality.
But then, I met an 8 year old boy named Ka'saun, and he couldn't wait to watch The Avatar everyday.
While babysitting he said "Tiana, please lets watch The Avatar, you would like it" a little skeptical I said ok.
As the cartoon started I was blown away. This is how the introduction goes:

"Water... Earth... Fire... Air. Long ago, the 4 nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all 4 elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he still has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world."

I was hooked to the T.V. after this. I felt hope and happiness for the children growing up in our world now. I like the fact that it's based out of the 4 elements that make up our world. I believe it keeps kids and also adults focus on what's really important. Even as a children's anime, it has great dialogue for adults too. Martial Arts is a big part of it, since The Avatar must master Water Bending, Fire Bending, Earth Bending to fight the Fire Lord and save the world. It's such a moving story and it's the perfect cartoon for kids.

Avatar: The Last Airbender takes place in a fantasy world that is home to humans, fantastic animals, and spirits. Human civilization is divided into four nations: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Air Nomads, and the Fire Nation. Each nation has its own natural element, on which it bases its society. Within each nation exists an order called "Benders" who have the ability to manipulate the eponymous element of their nation.

The series was created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who served as executive producers along with Aaron Ehasz.

I'm so excited The Avatar Movie is coming out next year July 2nd, 2010. I'm planning to make this a birthday gift for my friend Ka'saun.

Atlas Shrugged - Best Quotes - Ayn Rand

“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

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"