Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.
Interpretation
Gore Vidal critiques Ayn Rand's philosophy for promoting immorality through human greed and egotism.
In this quote, Gore Vidal expresses his strong disapproval of Ayn Rand's philosophy, suggesting that it is fundamentally immoral because it champions concepts like greed and egotism. He highlights the alarming trend of a growing audience that resonates with these ideas, indicating a troubling shift in societal values towards justifying self-interest at the expense of morality.
In practice
In a discussion about modern ethical philosophies, one might reference this quote to critique selfish ideologies.
We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
American writers want to be not good but great; and so are neither.
Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.
The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.
Envy is the central fact of American life.
When goals go, meaning goes. When meaning goes, purpose goes. When purpose goes, life goes dead on our hands.
Every religion lies. Every moral precept is a delusion. Even the stars are a mirage. The truth is darkness, and the only thing that matters is making a statement before one enters it. Cutting the skin of the world and leaving a scar. That's all history is, after all: scar tissue.
It [feminism] is mixed up with a muddled idea that women are free when they serve their employers but slaves when they help their husbands.
Oh, how swiftly the glory of the world passes away!
We imagine that we want to escape our selfish and commonplace existence, but we cling desperately to our chains.
The fish is my friend too...I have never seen or heard of such a fish. But I must kill him. I am glad we do not have to try to kill the stars. Imagine if each day a man must try to kill the moon, he thought. The moon runs away. But imagine if a man each day should have to try to kill the sun? We were born lucky; he thought
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