Ayn Rand

Life of Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand (born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum; February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982) was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism.
Born and educated in Russia, Rand moved to the United States in She worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood and had a play produced on Broadway in 1935–1936. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel, The Fountainhead. In 1957, Rand published her best-known work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own magazines and releasing several collections of essays until her death in 1982.
Rand advocated reason as the only means of acquiring knowledge, and rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism, and rejected altruism. In politics, she condemned the initiation of force as immoral and opposed collectivism and statism as well as anarchism, instead supporting laissez-faire capitalism, which she believed was the only social system that protected individual rights.
Early life
Rand was born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum on February 2, 1905, to a Russian-Jewish bourgeois family living in Saint Petersburg. She was the eldest of the three daughters of Zinovy Zakharovich Rosenbaum and his wife, Anna Borisovna (née Kaplan). Rand's father was a relatively successful pharmacist and businessman. Rand's mother was highly educated and had been a teacher in a girls' school before her marriage.
Rand was privately tutored and attended a private school. At age twelve, she began attending a gymnasium. At the same time, she had begun reading the works of the Russian nihilists and was enthralled by their ideas. She was particularly influenced by the writings of the philosopher and novelist Leo Tolstoy.
Rand's family left Russia in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and settled in the Crimean Peninsula, then under the control of the White Army during the Russian Civil War. She later recalled that while in high school she determined that she was an atheist and valued reason above any other human virtue.
Move to the United States
In 1926, at the age of 21, Rand was granted a visa to visit relatives in Chicago. She decided to remain in the United States and applied for citizenship. She worked briefly as a Hollywood extra and took odd jobs to pay for her education at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Rand's first published work was a play, Night of January 16th, which opened on Broadway in It was a success and ran for more than a year. She also wrote the screenplay for the film Love Letters in 1945.
The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged
Rand's first novel, We the Living, was published in It was followed by Anthem in 1938. Both were initially commercial failures, but gained a following by word of mouth.
Rand achieved fame with the 1943 publication of The Fountainhead. The novel's protagonist, Howard Roark, is an individualistic young architect who chooses to struggle in obscurity rather than compromise his artistic and personal vision. The book's theme of celebrating the human spirit's indomitable will to achieve was popular with readers.
Rand's next novel, Atlas Shrugged, was published in It presents a vision of the world in which the most creative industrialists, scientists, and artists go on strike and retreat to a mountainous hideaway where they build an independent free economy. The novel's hero, John Galt, describes the strike as "stopping the motor of the world" by withdrawing the minds of the individuals most contributing to the nation's wealth and achievement.
Objectivism
Rand developed a philosophical system she called Objectivism. She believed that reality exists independently of consciousness and that human beings can gain objective knowledge about it through the use of reason. She argued that the only moral code that could be rationally accepted was one based on individual rights and that the only social system consistent with such a code was laissez-faire capitalism.
Rand's Objectivism also rejected the existence of God and any form of supernaturalism. She argued that the only way to achieve happiness was to pursue one's own rational self-interest and that altruism was irrational and immoral.
Death
Rand died of heart failure on March 6, 1982, at her home in New York City. She was 77 years old. Her funeral was attended by more than 1,500 people, including many admirers and friends.
Legacy
Rand's influence on American culture has been profound. Her novels have sold millions of copies and have been translated into more than 20 languages. Her philosophy of Objectivism has been embraced by many, including some prominent figures in business and politics. Her ideas have been the subject of numerous books, articles, and essays.
Rand's legacy is controversial. Her views on individualism, capitalism, and atheism have been both praised and criticized. Her works have been both praised and criticized for their literary merit. But whatever one's opinion of Rand, her life and work have had a lasting impact on American culture.

Teachings of Ayn Rand

Reason is the only means of knowledge.
The proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness.
Man must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself.
The pursuit of one's rational self-interest and of one's own happiness is the highest moral purpose of one's life.
The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism.
The only social system that bans physical force from human relationships is laissez-faire capitalism.
The only moral code that can be logically defended is the code of rational self-interest.
The virtue of selfishness is the recognition of the fact that man's life is an end in itself and that he must live it for his own sake.
The only proper purpose of a government is to protect man's rights, which means: to protect him from physical violence.
The only proper functions of a government are: the police, to protect you from criminals; the army, to protect you from foreign invaders; and the courts, to protect your property and contracts from breach or fraud by others, to settle disputes by rational rules, according to objective law.
The right to life is the source of all rights—and the right to property is their only implementation.
The moral principle of trade is mutual benefit.
The only proper form of a government is a constitutionally limited republic.
The only proper purpose of a government is to protect man's rights.
The only valid moral principles are those of individual rights.
The only proper form of government is a limited constitutional republic.
The only valid principles of economics are those of laissez-faire capitalism.
The only proper form of government is a limited, constitutional republic.
The only valid principles of politics are those of individual rights.
The only valid principles of morality are those of rational self-interest.