Excerpt from My Bible.


"The question is not who is going to allow me,
its who is gonna stop me."  - Ayn Rand.

One of the best excerpt from Ayn Rand's, The Fountainhead. This is the seventh time I am reading this book. 
To me, its nothing lesser than Geeta, Bible or Quran. Published in 1953, its still the bestseller at every outlet. 

Following words are through a character of Howard Roark. He should be my separate blog post. 
 
You wont regret reading this.The grace of Objectivity.
 
"Nothing is given to man on earth. Everything he needs has to be produced. And here man faces his basic alternatives : he can survive in only one of two ways - by the independent work of his own mind or as a parasite fed by the minds of others.

The creator originates. The parasite borrows. The creator faces nature alone. The parasite faces nature through an intermediary.

The creator's concern is the conquest of nature. The parasite's concern is the conquest of men.

The creator lives for his work. He needs no other men. His primary goal is within himself. The parasite lives second-hand. He needs other. Others become his prime motive.

The basic need of the creator is independence. The reasoning mind cannot work under any form of compulsion. It cannot be curbed, sacrificed or subordinated by any consideration whatsoever. It demands total independence in function and in motive.

To a creator, all relations with men are secondary.

The basic need of second-hander is to secure his ties with men in order to be fed. He places relations first. He declares that man exists in order to serve others. He preaches altruism.

NO MAN CAN LIVE FOR ANOTHER. He cannot share his spirit just as he cannot share his body. The man who attempts to live for others is a dependent.

The relationship produces nothing but a mutual corruption. It is impossible in concept. The nearest approach to it in reality - the man who lives for others - is the slave.

The conquered slave has a vestige of honour. He has the merit of having resisted and considering his condition evil. But the man who enslaves him voluntarily in the name of love is the basest of creatures. He degrades the dignity of man and degrades the conception of love. But this is the essence of altruism."


Posted on 11:39 PM by Shantanu and filed under , , , , | 19 Comments »

19 comments:

Splurgerina said... @ June 25, 2010 at 9:56 AM

You've read this book SEVEN times? I still have to read it so skipped through the post..for some reason every time I sit to read it..some distraction or another happens...judging from the condition of the book though..you will never be able to guess that!! :P

Killer Drama said... @ June 25, 2010 at 12:57 PM

fountainhead is the best book i've read till date. i loved roark and dominic's chemistry

Anonymous said... @ June 25, 2010 at 10:46 PM
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said... @ June 25, 2010 at 10:53 PM

NO MAN CAN LIVE FOR ANOTHER!
wow! so true!! bt women do..
i guess all fountainhead fans r males :)
sorry js kidin..
bt still look at ur mom! hw impossible bcms i m possible :)

nil said... @ June 25, 2010 at 11:21 PM

I've had the book for a while... But never ended up reading it,though I always wanted to.I'll read it now, for sure.
Thanks for the encouragement : )

Shantanu said... @ June 25, 2010 at 11:26 PM

@Splurgerina : Seventh is on. hehe, take my word read it. Before reading this I was also quite a distracted reader.




@ Dip : thats so true about Roark n Dominique. I didn know love aise bhi hota hai like them.




@Viju : may be women, quite true. They live for Men atleast. But no MAN. I dont find anything other than love in my Mom.

Shantanu said... @ June 25, 2010 at 11:29 PM

@Nil : u r always welcome if u find it encouraging to finish it. Love this book, even We, the living and Atlas Shrugged are also Glod n platinum resp.

Anonymous said... @ June 26, 2010 at 7:39 AM

They live for Men atleast. But no MAN.
cud u plz explain???

Shantanu said... @ June 27, 2010 at 12:36 AM

@Viju: ur email?

Sabina said... @ June 29, 2010 at 4:11 PM

Wow, how sweet is your blog!!! :))
If you get the time - and I hope you will :) - please check out my blog. I think you might like it!

Hoping to hear from you soon, sweetie!
xxx

Anonymous said... @ June 30, 2010 at 1:17 AM
This comment has been removed by the author.
anamika said... @ June 30, 2010 at 1:24 PM

Thanks for following my blog Shantanu...
I am on some 10 th page of fountain head and I so desperately wish to read it but time does not permit it all..

I still will try to complete it and will share my views with you::)

Unknown said... @ June 30, 2010 at 1:27 PM

Read this book seven times? OH-how cool. I read Twilight saga two times and i think i can memorize all the parts. Maybe i'm ready to do a screenplay about it. if you read that book 7 times, you're ready for a movie for it! XD

thanks for following me. i followed you too!

follow me?
Lovely Curse

Shantanu said... @ June 30, 2010 at 2:02 PM

@ Anamika: Certainly, it would be a sharing. And I am so glad u r reading this book. Its a mie stone in literature.

Shantanu said... @ June 30, 2010 at 2:05 PM

@Felicia: Already this movie on The fountainhead is released. And m surely waiting for your screenplay. I feel I should also read Twilight Saga.

Alexandra Gabriella Audrey said... @ June 30, 2010 at 6:38 PM

wow you read the book for seven times? that was cool! i'm always trying to read a book but never succeed :p

Shantanu said... @ June 30, 2010 at 9:33 PM

@ Alexandra: yes, seventh time is on. If you read it, then will certainly come to know. Thanks dropping in.

Sovina said... @ July 1, 2010 at 7:53 PM

i too am a huge huge rand fan..read fountainhead when i was in 12th..didn't understand that much ..so read it again and again..and since then my love affair with rand has not ended..have read most of her books..even the boring non fictional ones...and most of them i have read twice..my favorite is though we the living....it fascinates me completely

great blog!!!
sovina
http://weddingonthecards.blogspot.com/

Shantanu said... @ July 2, 2010 at 1:11 PM

@Sovina : thank u Sovina for assing by. I too like We, The Living like anything.It certainly has that magic. I am so happy I got one more Rand fan. thank you.

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