To love a woman for her virtues is meaningless. She's earned it, it's a payment, not a gift. But to love her for her vices is a real gift, unearned and undeserved. To love her for her vices is to defile all virtues for her sake -- and that is a real tribute of love, because you sacrifice your conscience, your reason, your integrity and your self-esteem.
What is love, if it is not self-sacrifice?
----Ayn Rand "Atlas Shrugged"
10 comments:
Nice Thought
wow! haven't picked up this book yet! looks like i'll do so now! :)
Priya: It is highly recommended. Has the capability to brainwash.
hmm! apparently these lines were told by Lillian to her husband Hank Rearden... at the end of this conversation Hank was about to go and spend his night with other woman (Dagny Taggart!!) ... according to Ayn Rand these lines portray the thoughts of 'parasites'!!!
You have an excellent memory Rahul. I have a different view then Ayn, I consider love above everything. And I liked this line as it has the potential to do wonders in the society. All the prpblems of broken marriages / relationships can be solved. There are many families in the socity (particularly in India) where the family life is a burden but the couple can not walk out as it is not 'considered' good.
So, I do not agree with Ayn Rand 100% throughout the book. And in any debate, there are always some valid points in the counter argument as well.
no no sir...! u please really need to get the character sketch of Lillian before you draw any conclusions! sorry but u are getting it all wrong!
Ok sir. Actually I am only half way through the book. So may be when I finish I can understand better. But I reiterate the point that I am not taking this line associated with any Lillian or any Ayn Rand. I like it as a quote.
arre sushil! if there is no context then quotes are meaningless. Rand's very point is that 'self-sacrifice' is the biggest evil on this earth. she hated altruism. please see john galt's lines - 'I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.'
e.g. if i say i like samuel beckett's quote 'God... the bastard doesn't exist'... unless i have read complete 'End Game' i cannot really say what it means!
in fact, this quote cannot be called Ayn Rand's quote, because author speaks through the protagonists of her novel, who portray the essence of her own philosophy of objectivism. i hope u will agree on this?
Yes, it is not her quote, but an excerpts from her book. Thanx for the discussion dear.
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