So, Really … By What Standards?
All your life, you have heard yourself denounced; not for your faults, but for your greatest virtues. You have been hated, not for your mistakes, but for your achievements. You have been scorned for all those qualities of character which are your highest pride. You have been called selfish for the courage of acting on your own judgment and bearing sole responsibility for your own life. You have been called arrogant for your independent mind. You have been called cruel for your unyielding integrity. You have been called anti-social for the vision that made you venture upon undiscovered roads. You have been called ruthless for the strength and self-discipline of your drive to your purpose. You have been called greedy for the magnificence of your power to create wealth. You, who’ve expended an inconceivable flow of energy, have been called a parasite. You, who’ve created abundance where there had been nothing but wastelands and helpless, starving men before you, have been called a robber. You, who’ve kept them all alive, have been called an exploiter. You, the purest and most moral man among them, have been sneered at as a ‘vulgar materialist.’ Have you stopped to ask them: by what right? - by what code? - by what standard?
~Ayn Rand Russian born American writer & philosopher who advocated capitalism, individualism, & “objectivism”
—This is so very true … Such attitude exists in the world, in many of our communities and don’t be surprised if it exists in your own social circle. And chances are you have experienced such behavior from people around you and will most probably continue to in life. one of many examples could be that if you land a good job, people may speak of how ‘your connections’ made it possible and wont even mention that in fact it was your skills and qualifications that got you the job, and so. So to reitreate Rand’s questions … by what standards? by what right?!
