If you look after truth and goodness, Beauty looks after herself.
Tag: Quotes
Painters in the grand style were not concerned with style – they drew with clarity and rigor. Style was born from their work, and just as thought does not think about the sound of its voice nor even the rhythm, but creates them through its act – so they did not … Style must arise naturally from one’s attention to an object and it disappears as the awareness of this attention decreases.
The separation of the sciences and the arts is merely a matter of convention and convenience. But in thinking and acting, man transcends these categories which are simply particular acts. Each one implicitly contains the other.
Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.
My experience is what I agree to attend to.
A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.
Disgusted with being right, with doing what succeeds, with the effectiveness of methods, try something else.
Always listen to experts. They’ll tell you what can’t be done, and why. Then do it.
In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.
Reading: Atlas Shrugged
“Who is John Galt?” I’ve been asking myself that a lot over the last few weeks. Well, more than 1000 pages later, both that question and the world we’re living in are starting to make a whole lot more sense.
This is simply a book you must read yourself. It’s a compelling narrative, that can stir deep thinking about humanity and change (or confirm) your perspective of what it means to really produce. It’s timely, given where America is headed politically these days.
I’ve heard about Rand’s novels for years, and have been urged by close friends (including my wife) to read them. I knew they had philosophical undertones, but they always seemed to get trumped by more obviously compelling material.
That changed over the last few months when Atlas started cropping up for me everywhere. I noticed it in blogs I follow, in business texts I was studying, even in the mainstream media. It was time to read it (and I wasn’t alone, see this Wall Street Journal article about a recent spike in sales). I wasn’t disappointed.
There are several speeches in the book that you’ll undoubtedly dog-ear to reread in the future, particularly Francisco d’Anconia’s about money (rather than quote it at length, you can read an excerpt here). It’s the kind of story you’ll want to read twice, and I eagerly await that opportunity.
Rand, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged