To the Members of Objectivist Living

[Barbara Branden]

To the Members of Objectivist Living

I want to apologize to all of you for not responding to certain posts and articles that I had said I’d respond to. I had intended by now to give my own answers to the questions I posed in my article: “Objectivism’s Plague” and to reply to Dennis Hardin’s article, “An Objectivist Retrospective” as well as to other statements made by a number of you. However, I have run into several problems:

1. Many of the issues above have been very much on my mind in the past number of months, and I’ve found, when I came to write about them, that I was writing impossibly lengthy articles that badly needed to be revised and edited. And In certain respects, I needed further clarity in my own mind before explaining my position to others.

2. I am preparing a talk on “Objectivism and Rage” for AS/TOC – which will deal with issues very much related to those I wanted to discuss with you on Objectivist Living –that turns out to more complex and much more time-consuming than I had anticipated.

3. For some reason – perhaps a spiteful Providence (?) – other issues both professional and personal have arisen that have required a great deal of attention. As an example, my New Mail box now contains almost 500 messages. And I have had some health problems lately – none of them very serious but certainly distracting – that have slowed up my work generally.

All of this is a lengthy windup to saying that I most definitely want and intend to keep my promises to you, that I regret not having done so as yet, and that after the middle of next month I expect to be able to tackle the issues I haven’t dealt with. I very much look forward to your input on these issues. I am immensely impressed with the intelligence and thoughtfulness of the members of Objectivist Living -- I've never encountered a forum to equal it -- and I know that what you have to say about my views will be of great value to me.

Barbara

[gary williams]

Patience is a virtue.

You are a value.

The wait is my gain. I am happy to do so.

I respect very few, because very few have earned my respect.

I admire very few, because very few have earned my admiration.

You, I adore. Because I respect and admire you.

Do things in your own time.

Me? I'll just be waiting here with the rest of Pavlov's dogs, waiting for the bell.

I am already salivating for whatever you have in store for us next!

gw

[Roger Bissell]

Barbara, just take good care of yourself and spend each day as it best serves your life and happiness. We respect your personal resources and limits, as we do our own.

REB

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Barbara,

As I stated to you at the beginning of all this, you do whatever is good for you. Whatever is good for you is good for OL. You are loved and honored by many here.

I hope you feel better soon. Don't you dare catch anything serious.

Michael

[Dennis Hardin]

Barbara,

About two months ago, I picked up an item from my mailbox that turned my whole world upside down. I won’t bore you with the details, but I went through enough anxiety, misery, sleeplessness and confusion since then to last me for many years to come. Although OL has provided a welcome distraction at times, I have had very little time for abstract analysis, reading and study since that bomb exploded (metaphorically speaking). Life is only now starting to get back to something resembling normalcy, although my emotions are still passing through various phases of post-traumatic shock.

All of which underscores the difficulty of devoting extensive time to philosophical writing in this stress-filled, mind-numbing, exasperating and often insane world we live in. Please take whatever time you need and let go of any pressures you might feel. I am just thrilled that you were impressed enough with my article to give it such serious review. I will be even more thrilled once you do find the time to put your conclusions in final form here on OL.

Dennis

[C. Jordan]

Let me think: how long did it take Ayn to write Atlas Shrugged? Or for Roger Waters to complete his ÇA IRA opera? More examples abound. For now, I'm willing to wait.

On a personal note, Barbara, take care of yourself. We can wait for the morrow and the sunburst to the east.

Chrys