"Ayn Rand rejected most of the conventional categories into which philosophical and political positions are supposed to be sorted, and this rejection of false alternatives is a major theme of her work. "

"Incidentally, this is why most parodies of Ayn Rand end up seeming so lame. "

"In Ayn Rand’s novels, all the heroes are rich and the bad guys are poor, right?
It’s closer to the opposite."

One of the concepts that had a powerful impact on me is (paraphrasing) if you think of yourself as a hero, you'll seek a heroine for a mate. I found that in order to think of myself as a hero, I needed to acquire much different knowledge and attitude, and it was the beginning of what was for me, a transformation.

I first read Atlas Shrigged when I was 17 years old. This article does a great job of summing up the motivation behind the decisions throughout my life since then.

Thanks for sharing.

".....that any value you might find outside your work, any other loyalty or love, can only be travelers you choose to share your journey and must be travelers going on their own power in the same direction." ..... Excerpt from Galt's speech. A very profound point I think.

I saw The Fountainhead as a Netflix snail-mail DVD about two weeks ago.
Spoiler alert!
I loved that worker's elevator scene at the end when the star-crossed lovers were at last uncrossed on the highest building of the world.

It does look interesting. I'm adding it to my ever expanding list.

Good Post. I will make sure I buy it. Thanks

I would phrase it differently, since I think of 'love' as a type of romantic relationship that easily transcends philosophies. (I observe this; I would not personally want a man for a lover who was out of synch with me philosophically.) Saying 'all he wants is love' makes the putative hero seem like a needy puppy...not my idea of a hero.

I would say that 'What a Rand hero really wants is to be amongst members of his own 'species'.' This is why we congregate here in The Gulch. To be able to talk to our own tribe.

Jan

Hello richrobinson,
That was great. It was so good in fact, I saved it to my Rand file.
When/ if anyone hears about the completion and release of the book, I would appreciate an update.
Respectfully,
O.A.

what's it all for? . the poetry of a man and a woman
sweating all over one another, making a child and
staying together to raise her, or him, to additional success! -- j

Great article! Thank you for posting it.

This is one of my favorite articles I've read about Ayn Rand.
It made me think about Peter Keating in the Fountainhead. Why doesn't he want Toohey to stay after Toohey admits to undermining achievement just because he can? Maybe all Keating wants is love and friendship too, but he went about getting it the wrong way.