"I"

This is a very inspirational anthem of 'I' given by amazing writer or philosopher i must say i.e. Ayn Rand...Though I am not much into reading novels and all such stuff but her works really force me to go through them,her works are like magnet and obviously attracts me to themselves coz i m an iron-willed person(this is EGO and nothing else..:-)..since I this quote or anthem has ignited a kind of fire inside me and I want this fire to be ignited in a few more souls.. so, through this space i am trying to share this with you all so,just go through it and I am damn sure you will surely think over it....It might sound somewhat egoistic to some of you but think over it even then...If still don't agree your thoughts are welcome!!coz we are democratic...(though very few understands it)...


“I am. I think. I will. ...
“What must I say besides? These are the words. This is the answer.
“I stand here on the summit of the mountain. I lift my head and I spread
my arms. This—my body and spirit—this is the end of the quest. I wished to
know the meaning of things. I am the meaning. I wished to find a warrant for
being. I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being.
I am the warrant and the sanction. ...
“I know not if this earth on which I stand is the core of the universe or if it
is but a speck of dust lost in eternity. I know not and I care not. For I know
what happiness is possible to me on earth. And my happiness needs no
higher aim to vindicate it. My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the
end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose.
“Neither am I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish. I am
not a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs. I am not a bandage
for their wounds. I am not a sacrifice on their altars. ...
“I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask
none to live for me, nor do I live for any others. I covet no man’s soul, nor is
my soul theirs to covet
“I am neither foe nor friend to my brothers, but such as each of them shall
deserve of me. And to earn my love, my brothers must do more than to have
been born. I do not grant my love without reason, nor to any chance passerby
who may wish to claim it I honor men with my love. But honor is a thing
to be earned.
“I shall choose friends among men, but neither slaves nor masters. And I
shall choose only such as please me, and them I shall love and respect, but
neither command nor obey. And we shall join our hands when we wish, or
walk alone when we so desire. For in the temple of his spirit, each man is
alone. Let each man keep his temple untouched and undefiled. Then let him
join hands with others if he wishes, but only beyond his holy threshold.
“For the word ‘We’ must never be spoken, save by one’s choice and as a
second thought This word must never be placed first within man’s soul, else
it becomes a monster, the root of all the evils on earth, the root of man’s
torture by men, and of an unspeakable lie.
“The word ‘We’ is as lime poured over men, which sets and hardens to
stone, and crushes all beneath it, and that which is white and that which is
black are lost equally in the gray of it. It is the word by which the depraved
steal the virtue of the good, by which the weak steal the might of the strong,
by which the fools steal the wisdom of the sages.
“What is my joy if all hands, even the unclean, can reach into it? What is
my wisdom, if even the fools can dictate to me? What is my freedom, if all
creatures, even the botched and the impotent, are my masters? What is my
life, if I am but to bow, to agree and to obey?
“But I am done with this creed of corruption.
“I am done with the monster of We,” the word of serfdom, of plunder, of
misery, falsehood and shame.
“And now I see the face of god, and I raise this god over the earth, this
god whom men have sought since men came into being, this god who will
grant them joy and peace and pride.
“This god, this one word: I.”