On Purpose by Ayn Rand

Peter Keating: “Do you always have to have a purpose? Do you always have to be so damn serious? Can’t you ever do things without reason, just like everybody else? You’re so serious, so old. Everything’s important with you. Everything’s great, significant in some way, every minute, even when you keep still. Can’t you ever be comfortable--and unimportant?” ~ Ayn Rand from The Fountainhead

Howard Roark: “No.”

That. Is. Genius.

Now, to be sure, if you don’t intend to make the most of your life, live as a second-hander, etc., etc., the above (and the whole note and most of my Notes for that matter :) might be more than a little annoying.

But, remember Maslow’s admonition: “If you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you’ll be unhappy for the rest of your life.”

And Joseph Campbell puts the need to be intense about our actualization process another way when he quotes Sri Ramakrishna saying, “Do not seek illumination unless you seek it as a man whose hair is on fire seeks a pond.”

So, as always, the spotlight is back on you. You living on purpose? You have the courage for your own greatness?

More from Ayn Rand…

• Ayn Rand’s Big Ideas
• Ayn Rand’s quotes
• Buy the book from Amazon!
• Check out the Ayn Rand’s Site

More Ideas on: Ayn Rand, Genius, Joseph Campbell, The Fountainhead, Maslow Now