“In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours."
Ayn Rand is a genius, in my opinion. If I could meet one person, living or dead, she would be my #1 pick. If you haven't read The Virtue of Selfishness, you should before the summer is over. You learn a lot about a very different way to look at the world, whether you agree or disagree.
She has a very unique philosophy about the individual as a hero, and how the hero loves. It's woven into all of her work, and even her interviews that I posted a while back discuss her philosophy of love. I agree with her 100% that we don't need to be "sacrificial animals," loving others only because we are told to. Loving for others' benefit is not gratifying, and not your best. You owe yourself your best.
“Love is an expression and assertion of self-esteem, a response to one's own values in the person of another. One gains a profoundly personal, selfish joy from the mere existence of the person one loves. It is one's own personal, selfish happiness that one seeks, earns, and derives from love.”
Why not love ourselves enough to love others who have the same self-esteem? We should love and respect others for their virtues and character that they've consciously chosen and developed. Giving love freely is for the birds. No one can make you love anything. Ever. You are in control of what you choose to love. We throw the word "love" around like a frisbee on a college campus. I too am guilty of using it too frequently in my daily language.
I'm going to step back and think about what I really see my own virtues in before I say, "I love it!" Love means a lot more than we ever recognize when we blab to our friends, and I think that I will live a more fulfilling life if I am more conscious of this.
“Love is the expression of one's values, the greatest reward you can earn for the moral qualities you have achieved in your character and person, the emotional price paid by one man for the joy he receives from the virtues of another.”
I hope you find the virtues in those around you that trigger your admiration and love for the right reason: these virtues are much like your own.
*When I say "We" I don't mean for my words to be prescriptive to you as a reader. My ferret is sitting right here, so this is more of a published monologue with a Maximus audience. One Love.
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