-My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose.-
--- Ayn Rand, Anthem
This Novella by Ayn Rand was first published in England in 1938. It takes place at some unspecified future date when mankind has entered another dark age characterized by irrationality, collectivism, and socialistic thinking and economics. Technological advancement is now carefully planned (when it is allowed to occur at all) and the concept of individuality has been eliminated (for example, the use of the word -I- is punishable by death). Rand, as a...

It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil. It is as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own. And we know well that there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone. We have broken the laws. The laws say that men may not write unless the Council of Vocations bid them so. May we be forgiven But this is not the only sin upon us. We have committed a greater crime, and for this crime there is no name. What punishment awaits us if it be discovered we know not, for no such...

"Ethik ist kein mystisches Hirngespinst und keine gesellschaftliche Konvention - und ebenso wenig ist sie ein entbehrlicher, subjektiver Luxus... Ethik ist eine objektive Notwendigkeit des menschlichen Überlebens - nicht aufgrund des Übernatürlichen, Ihrer Nachbarn oder Ihrer Launen, sondern aufgrund der Realität und der Natur Ihres Lebens.""Die Objektivistische Ethik vertritt stolz den rationalen Egoismus - was bedeutet: Die Werte, die für das menschliche Überleben als Mensch erforderlich sind - nicht die Werte, die von den Sehnsüchten, Gefühlen, Wünschen oder Bedürfnissen...