Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.
Interpretation
Gore Vidal critiques Ayn Rand's philosophy for promoting immorality through human greed and egotism.
In this quote, Gore Vidal expresses his strong disapproval of Ayn Rand's philosophy, suggesting that it is fundamentally immoral because it champions concepts like greed and egotism. He highlights the alarming trend of a growing audience that resonates with these ideas, indicating a troubling shift in societal values towards justifying self-interest at the expense of morality.
In practice
In a discussion about modern ethical philosophies, one might reference this quote to critique selfish ideologies.
We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
American writers want to be not good but great; and so are neither.
Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.
The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.
Envy is the central fact of American life.
I think Russian people are learning that democracy is not an alien thing; it's not a western invention.
Beauty endures only for as long as it can be seen; goodness, beautiful today, will remain so tomorrow.
We had stretched out our arms to each other and supported something in our joined hands, but this thing we were holding was like a sort of gas that exists when you believe in its existence and disappears when you doubt. The task of supporting it seems simple at first glance, but actually requires an ultimate refinement of calculation and a consummate skill.
As a singer, I've had many opportunities to travel, and one thing I've learned is that through my music, I can be accepted by people all over the world. I often wonder why so many of us can't accept people who are different here, in our country? It's just not fair to be prejudiced against those whose race, religion or colour aren't the same as ours.
Existence permeates sexuality and vice versa, so that it is impossible to determine, in a given decision or action, the proportion of sexual to other motivations, impossible to label a decision or act ‘sexual’ or ‘non-sexual’ . There is no outstripping of sexuality any more than there is sexuality enclosed within itself. No one is saved and no one is totally lost.
The portion we see of human beings is very small: their formats and faces, voices and words.... beyond these, like an immense dark continent, lies all that has made them.
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