Art

Happy 111th birthday of Ayn Rand

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As is my custom, I celebrate the birthday of Ayn Rand by opening one of her novels to a random page and reading. Any passage is a great inspiration. Here is what I read today, from Atlas Shrugged, Part One / Chapter IX (thanks to Phil Oliver and his Objectivism Research CD-ROM for making it […]

Art

Happy Atlas Shrugged Day 2015

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Each year on September 2, informally known as Atlas Shrugged Day, I celebrate by opening to a random page of the novel and reading. I consider this novel by Ayn Rand the greatest work of art and perhaps the greatest achievement in history. Every page is an unsurpassed inspiration. This is a passage I opened […]

Art

Happy Atlas Shrugged Day 2014

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September 2 is Atlas Shrugged Day, the anniversary of the day (in 1946) on which Ayn Rand began writing the novel. September 2 is also a significant date in the novel, and the date on which the story begins. I celebrate Atlas Shrugged Day by reading passages from the novel, often by opening the book […]

Art

Happy Ayn Rand’s Birthday 2014

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As always, I celebrate Ayn Rand’s birthday, February 2nd, by opening one of Ayn Rand’s novels to a random page and reading a passage. Every passage is marvelous. Today, I opened The Fountainhead to this passage (Rand [1943], 1952, 223–224, Part Two, Chapter 3), of one villain’s ironic written praise of another: “Greatness is an […]

Art

Happy Atlas Shrugged Day, 2013

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September 2 is Atlas Shrugged Day, the anniversary of the day (in 1946) on which Ayn Rand began writing the novel. September 2 is also a significant date in the novel, and the date on which the story begins. I celebrate Atlas Shrugged Day by reading passages from the novel, often by opening the book […]

Art

Happy Ayn Rand’s Birthday 2013

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I celebrate February 2, the birthday of Ayn Rand, by opening one of her novels to a random page and reading. Today I read these two passages from The Fountainhead. “Miss Cook, I’ve read Clouds and Shrouds and it was a spiritual revelation to me. Allow me to include myself among the few who understand […]

Art

Happy Atlas Shrugged Day, 2012

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I consider Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, the greatest work of art and most advanced human achievement. September 2 (1946) is the date on which Ayn Rand began writing the novel, and is also the date on which the novel begins. I celebrate Atlas Shrugged Day by reading passages from the novel, often by opening […]

Politics

“The Despoiling of Ability”

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As if having read my blog (Shared Sacrifice) from Tuesday and reprising his role as the villain, President Obama said this yesterday: Look, I want everybody in America to do well. I want everybody to have a chance to become a millionaire. I think the free market system is the greatest wealth generator we’ve ever […]

Politics

Happy Independence Day

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Today I celebrated Independence Day by reading the Declaration of Independence and some pages of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Anyone who wonders about the connection is invited to read the right-hand column of the home page of this blog. Second Renaissance Books once published a tear-off calendar, “Ayn Rand Quote of the Day • […]

Art

Read Atlas Shrugged

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(A slightly revised version of this post appears in Capitalism Magazine, April 17, 2011) I do not recommend the movie based—unfaithfully and ineptly, in my judgment—on Atlas Shrugged (Rand 1957) that opens today. (See my analysis of one scene here.) Instead, I urge every thoughtful individual to read the novel, again and again, and to […]