Anthem
“They exists only to serve the state. They were conceived in controlled Palaces of Mating. They died in the Home of the Useless. From cradle to grave, the crowd was one–the great WE. In all that was left of humanity there was only one man who dared to think, seek, and love. He, Equality 7-2521, came close to losing his life because his knowledge was regarded as a treacherous blasphemy . . . he had rediscovered the lost and holy work–I.
I worship individuals for their highest possibilities as individuals and I loathe humanity, for its failure to live up to the possibilities.” — Ayn Rand
It is obvious why Ayn Rand exalts man’s ego. In doing so, she is (implicitly) upholding the central principles of her philosophy and her heroes: reason, values, volition, individualism. He villains, by contrast, do not think, judge, and will: they are second-harders, who allow themselves to be run by others. Having renounced their minds, they are, in a literal sense, selfless.”
