ATLAS SHRUGGED TURNS FIFTY

"Man's basic vice, the source of all his evils, is that nameless act of blanking out, the willful suspension of one's consciousness, the refusal to think - not blindness, but the refusal to see, not ignorance, but the refusal to know."
---John Galt, Atlas Shrugged

One of my all time favorite books is Atlas Shrugged , written 50 years ago by Ayn Rand. Ayn Rand was a powerful lady, a philosopher, and a great role model. She was a Russian immigrant but became an American by choice, she used to say. She was labeled "extreme non-conformist" by some but revolutionary by others. However, regardless of what one might think about her, her confidence and ideals were impressive. Her novels communicated her philosophy of “enlightened self-interest.” She believe in human power to excel beyond ones imagination. She also wrote non-fiction books about her philosophy – objectivism – but it’s the novels that have had the biggest impact on many people.

In Atlas Shrugged, she offered this summary in its appendix:
"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."

Here is a Mike Wallace interviewing her in 1959. Click here

Well, if you don't have time to read Atlas Shrugged (after-all, it is 1500 page novel!), the movie Atlas Shrugged is coming out next year.

Hat tip to my dear blogger friend Judy, an admirer of Ayn Rand.