Monday, October 20, 2008

Responsible For Me

"I swear by my life, and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."

Ayn Rand

Amen.
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3 comments:

a different perspective said...

I was once asked if two people are on a boat with no life jackets, and one of them drowns. Would you rather be the one drowning or the one surviving?
I answered "I would rather be the one surviving unless the second person was my husband, then I would rather be the one drowning."

In the first scenario, where the 2nd person is not my spouse. I would rather I live than that other person. And I would rather their spouse mourn their death than my spouse mourn my death. It is selfish of me, I know. But, we already agreed that it is human to be selfish.

In the second scenario, I would rather die than mourn my husband. However, I would be leaving him mourning me. So, maybe I am being selfish here too.

I'm not sure what Ayn Rand meant by her quote, but I am definitely a lot scared of my life now than if I were single. Leaving him behind would be the worst thing about dying. I think many parents feel this way towards their kids too. Does that mean we are living for another person?

20/10/08 10:21 PM
Devil's Mind said...

I don't think that what Ayn Rand is talking about is the same as what you are talking about. Apparently you misinterpret what she meant.

Ayn Rand is talking about sacrifice. She is basically swearing by her life not to sacrifice anything for the sake of another person. Likewise, she is also swearing not to ask another person to make a sacrifice for her sake.

By swearing that she will not ask anyone to sacrifice anything for her, she is taking full responsibility for her well-being. She thinks that every person should look out for himself, and not expect others to look out for him.

20/10/08 11:24 PM
Arabian_terrorist said...

I wish all people would think that...[sight]

21/10/08 12:28 AM

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