Ayn Rand (nonfiction)

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Ayn Rand (1943).

Ayn Rand (/ˈaɪn ˈrænd/; born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum, Russian: Али́са Зино́вьевна Розенба́ум; February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1905 – March 6, 1982) was a Russian-born American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter.

She is known for her two best-selling novels, The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957), and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism.

Born and educated in Russia, Rand moved to the United States in 1926. She had a play produced on Broadway in 1935–1936.

After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful in America, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel, The Fountainhead.

In 1957, she published her best-known work, the novel Atlas Shrugged.

Afterward, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own magazines and releasing several collections of essays until her death in 1982.

Rand advocated reason as the only means of acquiring knowledge, and rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism, and rejected altruism.

In politics, she condemned the initiation of force as immoral, and opposed collectivism and statism as well as anarchism, and instead supported laissez-faire capitalism, which she defined as the system based on recognizing individual rights.

She was sharply critical of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her, except for Aristotle and some Aristotelians, and classical liberals.

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“There are two novels that can transform a bookish 14-year-kld’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish daydream that can lead to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood in which large chunks of the day are spent inventing ways to make real life more like a fantasy novel. The other is a book about orcs.”

The one thing I like about Ayn Rand is that she cuckolded far above her "weight class". Her choice of lover was much younger, already married and she resembled a sentient prune at the time. That is some strong cougar power! Plus Helen Mirren played her in the Showtime movie about her sleazy affair. Helen Mirren is pure British acting awesome.* —Comment @ Boing Boing

Comment @ Boing Boing:

Has anyone used the Lord of the Rings/Atlas Shrugged quote yet?

“There are two novels that can transform a bookish 14-year-kld’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish daydream that can lead to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood in which large chunks of the day are spent inventing ways to make real life more like a fantasy novel. The other is a book about orcs.”

The one thing I like about Ayn Rand is that she cuckolded far above her "weight class". Her choice of lover was much younger, already married and she resembled a sentient prune at the time. That is some strong cougar power! Plus Helen Mirren played her in the Showtime movie about her sleazy affair. Helen Mirren is pure British acting awesome.

  • Post @ Twitter (13 February 2024)