Look, Gail." Roark got up, reached out, tore a thick branch off a tree, held it in both hands, one fist closed at each end; then, his wrists and knuckles tensed against the resistance, he bent the branch slowly into an arc. "Now I can make what I want of it: a bow, a spear, a cane, a railing. That's the meaning of life." "Your strength?" "Your work." He tossed the branch aside. "The material the earth offers you and what you make of it . . .
Ayn RandThere is fear hanging in the air of the sleeping halls, and the air of the streets. Fear walks through the city, fear without name, without shape. All men feel it and none dare speak.
Ayn RandThere were things in my past which I have not liked. But all the things of which I was proud will remain.
Ayn RandShe had won the battle against her memories. But one form of torture remained, untouched by the years, the torture of the word "why?
Ayn Rand"You were not born to be a second-hander." Howard Roark to Gail Wynand in "The Fountainhead"
Ayn Rand[What for] was the first question he asked about any activity proposed to him - and nothing would make him act, if he found no valid answer. He flew through the days of his summer month like a rocket, but if one stopped him in mid-flight, he could always name the purpose of his every random moment. Two things were impossible to him: to stand still or to move aimlessly.
Ayn Rand