The virtue of selfishness by Ayn Rand was a book on my "to-read" list for years now. I finally started reading it. I have only read the first article in the book: The objectivist ethics. Initially I found it a little difficult to read and thought that it is yet another book where the author uses difficult to understand words or concepts. But after page 24 the book got on a roll.
I was swept away by the ideas. And the most wonderful thing was that the writing was pithy. It said a lot in the number of words needed to say a lot. And not like some books that repeat the same thing over and over again in different ways.
I found certain ideas to be a wonderful new way of looking at life. I can't be sure that these ideas are correct. But they certainly provide a point of view that needs to be looked at. One of the ideas as I understood it is that we need to engage our minds to the maximum capacity to be happy. When I read this I wondered whether this is the way to pursue happiness. And regretted not reading this book earlier.
As I read the article, I was aware of my tendency to get carried away, to get influenced quickly. So while I was getting all excited reading the book at night, I decided that the first thing I'll do the next morning is to read criticism for Ayn Rand on the internet.
I did find a lot of criticism. Reading the criticism reminded me of some of my own objections that I brushed aside to get to the essence of what she was trying to say. Reading the criticism also helped me to understand where Ayn Rand's philosophy stands in the general discipline of philosophy.
Our lives are driven by philosophies and hence they should be considered important. It's strange that most of us do not formally study it.
--saurabh
I was swept away by the ideas. And the most wonderful thing was that the writing was pithy. It said a lot in the number of words needed to say a lot. And not like some books that repeat the same thing over and over again in different ways.
I found certain ideas to be a wonderful new way of looking at life. I can't be sure that these ideas are correct. But they certainly provide a point of view that needs to be looked at. One of the ideas as I understood it is that we need to engage our minds to the maximum capacity to be happy. When I read this I wondered whether this is the way to pursue happiness. And regretted not reading this book earlier.
As I read the article, I was aware of my tendency to get carried away, to get influenced quickly. So while I was getting all excited reading the book at night, I decided that the first thing I'll do the next morning is to read criticism for Ayn Rand on the internet.
I did find a lot of criticism. Reading the criticism reminded me of some of my own objections that I brushed aside to get to the essence of what she was trying to say. Reading the criticism also helped me to understand where Ayn Rand's philosophy stands in the general discipline of philosophy.
Our lives are driven by philosophies and hence they should be considered important. It's strange that most of us do not formally study it.
--saurabh
