<div class="bbWrapper">My point is that the quotes make me think about so much. This book makes my brain sizzle.<br />
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<blockquote data-attributes="member: 62755" data-quote="Primeperiwinkle" data-source="post: 836861"
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I agree and liked everything about your post except for this quote. I find it incredibly prideful and sad. I think it shouldn’t be “admire” it should say “someone you can battle against with the sharp edge of your will, someone whose mind is a match for your own pride”<br />
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I thought Francisco was the most guilty.. but I can’t recall why exactly.
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Sure it's prideful. Sure it's sad. And yet...<br />
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What if it's true? <br />
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First I digress.<br />
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To me whether it is prideful, boastful or sad is a little besides the point. I don't want to judge it. As one who wishes to smith words someday, the ideas being hammered out here and in this book are fascinating to me as a reflection of life.<br />
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I've known people who felt this way.<br />
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How hard must it be for a great person to remain great if they are not surrounded by other greatness?<br />
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While the quote did make me think of this and a whole lot more, it also made me think of Francisco. It made me think of the type of man he is. And he did say admire...<br />
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Taken out of context the quote is sad or boastful. But in context...<br />
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I believe he was asking genuine questions of Hank. I believe he is setting the stage. I think the questions are foreshadowing.<br />
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Sure, having a mental sparring partner is one thing. It's great, actually. But training with an equal vs training with an Olympian? And Francisco doesn't even have an equal to train with.<br />
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So imagine being the mountain everyone looks up to. You tower above all others, you reach through the clouds. You are the tallest peak anyone has seen or heard of. What motivation is there to improve? Some surely... But to soar? You already soar.<br />
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Everyone praises you, but it means nothing to you because it just comes naturally.<br />
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Until one day, the clouds clear, and you see for the first time another peak, much much higher than yours.<br />
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That is the new standard by which you must now judge yourself. That is the worthy challenge to aspire to.<br />
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Who is John Galt? We have a partial answer.<br />
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He is the man Francisco D'anconia looks up to. Loves. Reveres.<br />
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Francisco, the man who never lost anything to anybody. He loved him (Galt) so much (Did anyone catch that he used the past tense?) , he'll even toss aside his own childhood dreams.<br />
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"Who is your John Galt?" is the next question that popped into my head...<br />
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This is me being brief in this post. I can't possibly share everything off just this one quote. <br />
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Then there's these:<br />
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"<i>Words are relative. They’re only symbols. If we don’t use ugly symbols, we won’t have any ugliness. Why do you want me to say things one way, when I’ve already said them another?” “Which way do I want you to say them?” “Why do you want me to?” “For the same reason that you don’t.” The boy had remained silent for a moment, then had said, “You know, Mr. Rearden, there are no absolute standards. We can’t go by rigid principles, we’ve got to be flexible, we’ve got to adjust to the reality of the day and act on the expediency of the moment.</i><br />
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(I agree with Rearden on cutting to the chase, but there are some interesting counterpoints here...)<br />
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<i>I don’t know,” he said indifferently, and went on intently. “I know only that if it’s vicious, then let me be damned for it, but that’s what I want to do more than anything else on earth.</i><br />
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I can't even explain where this takes my brain.<br />
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<i>“But money demands of you the highest virtues, if you wish to make it or to keep it. Men who have no courage, pride or self-esteem, men who have no moral sense of their right to their money and are not willing to defend it as they defend their life, men who apologize for being rich—will not remain rich for long."</i><br />
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So. Many. Quotes. <img src="/community/imgs/emoticons/em-rofl.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":rofl:" title="ROFL :rofl:" data-shortname=":rofl:" /><br />
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<blockquote data-attributes="member: 62755" data-quote="Primeperiwinkle" data-source="post: 836877"
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One last discrepancy. Francisco advises Rearden to NEVER buy d’Anconio stock.. so that made me think the fall of his company was a couple weeks or months away... not imminent. I’m slightly confused by the reveal. Was it a practical joke? Or has he really destroyed all his stockholders by destroying his own company?
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He explained it though. His company is so strong it's going to survive what is happening tomorrow. Because the looters will prop it up.<br />
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At first I bristled at the word looters in the book. I didn't get it. Now that I get it, I kind of want to start using it in my daily life.</div>
