Looking for Rand quote


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I'm looking for a quote by Rand. It reads something along the lines of "Don't bother to examine absurdity, instead ask what it accomplishes."

I can't find this quote anywhere on the web and I'm fairly certain I read it in The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged.

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That quote appears in "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal", chapter 17 "Extremism or The Art of Smearing".

You can find it here.

Thanks Jerry!

I don't know why I thought I had read it in Rand's fiction. I've never read Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal.

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Kyle, you're not imagining things! Here is the passage you're remembering, spoken by the great evil one himself, Ellsworth Toohey:

"...there's always a purpose in nonsense. Don't bother to examine a folly - ask yourself only what it accomplishes. Every system of ethics that preached sacrifice grew into a world power and ruled millions of men."

Its use in Rand's extremism essay was actually in quote marks, though not attributed to its actual speaker, E.T. (who did not call home).

REB

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It's from the scene between Toohey and Keating after Toohey has learned about the deal Keating cut with Roark over the Cortlandt commission.

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Kyle, you're not imagining things! Here is the passage you're remembering, spoken by the great evil one himself, Ellsworth Toohey:

"...there's always a purpose in nonsense. Don't bother to examine a folly - ask yourself only what it accomplishes. Every system of ethics that preached sacrifice grew into a world power and ruled millions of men."

Its use in Rand's extremism essay was actually in quote marks, though not attributed to its actual speaker, E.T. (who did not call home).

REB

It's from the scene between Toohey and Keating after Toohey has learned about the deal Keating cut with Roark over the Cortlandt commission.

Thanks folks!

Now I know I'm not going crazy. (awaiting the arrival of Brant)

I read The Fountainhead nearly 5 years ago, which seems like a long time ago. It's strange how certain events can pull long "forgotten" memories to the forefront of one's mind.

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Thanks folks!

Now I know I'm not going crazy. (awaiting the arrival of Brant)

I read The Fountainhead nearly 5 years ago, which seems like a long time ago. It's strange how certain events can pull long "forgotten" memories to the forefront of one's mind.

What's going on here? Did I miss something? Who gave you people permission to go ahead without me?

--Brant

five years seems like a long time ago because you are very young; for me five years ago was like yesterday and the 1960s the day before

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Out of curiosity, what are you going to be using the quote for?

For the most diabolical of actions, the integration of knowledge in order to form a more accurate view of the world.

Thanks folks!

Now I know I'm not going crazy. (awaiting the arrival of Brant)

I read The Fountainhead nearly 5 years ago, which seems like a long time ago. It's strange how certain events can pull long "forgotten" memories to the forefront of one's mind.

What's going on here? Did I miss something? Who gave you people permission to go ahead without me?

--Brant

five years seems like a long time ago because you are very young; for me five years ago was like yesterday and the 1960s the day before

There was a coup and you didn't get the memo.

Yep, I'm aware as to why five years seems so long to me. After all, currently, five years is nearly 25% of my total life I've lived on this earth.

1960's, eh? You may as well have said the 1700s. Both seem so far away to me.

Not too long ago, I watched home movies featuring me as a baby. At that time, I lived in the same house as I do today. But that house looks so...basic and foreign, yet strangely comforting and warm.

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Out of curiosity, what are you going to be using the quote for?

For the most diabolical of actions, the integration of knowledge in order to form a more accurate view of the world.

Thanks folks!

Now I know I'm not going crazy. (awaiting the arrival of Brant)

I read The Fountainhead nearly 5 years ago, which seems like a long time ago. It's strange how certain events can pull long "forgotten" memories to the forefront of one's mind.

What's going on here? Did I miss something? Who gave you people permission to go ahead without me?

--Brant

five years seems like a long time ago because you are very young; for me five years ago was like yesterday and the 1960s the day before

There was a coup and you didn't get the memo.

Yep, I'm aware as to why five years seems so long to me. After all, currently, five years is nearly 25% of my total life I've lived on this earth.

1960's, eh? You may as well have said the 1700s. Both seem so far away to me.

Not too long ago, I watched home movies featuring me as a baby. At that time, I lived in the same house as I do today. But that house looks so...basic and foreign, yet strangely comforting and warm.

Yer lucky I didn't say 1950s.

--Brant

whippersnapper!

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There was a coup and you didn't get the memo.

Aha! More proof for Naomi that there can be a bloodless coup!

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There was a coup and you didn't get the memo.

Aha! More proof for Naomi that there can be a bloodless coup!

There was blood. We just had a good drainage system.

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There was a coup and you didn't get the memo.

Aha! More proof for Naomi that there can be a bloodless coup!

There was blood. We just had a good drainage system.

Smart whippersnapper*!

Plan ahead.

"Luck" comes to the well prepared.

* whip·per·snap·per

noun informal

noun: whippersnapper; plural noun: whippersnappers; noun: whipper-snapper; plural noun: whipper-snappers
1.
a young and inexperienced person considered to be presumptuous or overconfident.
synonyms: upstart, stripling;
informalpipsqueak, squirt
"listen, you little whippersnapper, I'm still in charge here"
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Oh, Adam, I wouldn't call Kyle presumptuous or overconfident. Yet, whippersnapper does seem to fit. :wink:

If it's said humorously it means one thing, as in kidding someone. Seriously, it's akin to an insult.

--Brant

now, what was my intent?--oh, yeah, now I remember!

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I'm curious: how do the period touches in Atlas Shrugged strike a first-time reader in the twenty-first century? When I first read the book in the early 60s they were a bit of distraction, as if the story were trying to be contemporary but not quite succeeding. Their effect must be quite different today.

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I'm curious: how to the period touches in Atlas Shrugged strike a first-time reader in the twenty-first century? When I first read the book in the early 60s they were a bit of distraction, as if the story were trying to be contemporary but not quite succeeding. Their effect must be quite different today.

I don't recall exaclty when I read it, but I think it was sometime around 2005. It struck me as antiquated, and I had a difficult time finding a connection to that world. Perhaps that is partly why I feel very little fondness for it even though it is Rand's masterpiece. I much prefer We the Living and Anthem.

On a related note, at least two years ago I gave a friend a collection of random e-books then forgot I had done so. She reminded me recently that she had been slowly working her way through them, and was very excited to have just finished reading Anthem which was included. She leans more liberal, but was completely taken with the themes of that book. It was a satisfying moment for me. If I had given her Atlas Shrugged, she probably would have beaten me with it.

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Hmm...Atlas Shrugged used as a D/s impact tool...now that would be extreme Objectivist kink!

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