Atlas Shrugged

"What is morality?" she asked.

"Judgment to distinguish right and wrong, vision to see the truth, courage to act upon it, dedication to that which is good, integrity to stand by the good at any price. But where does one find it?"

When they were gone, he felt what one feels at the loss of a dream one had not known till after it was lost.

She felt a great sense of peace between them, and the intimacy of the unimportant gestures underscored the importance of the things they were not saying to each other.

We are the soul, of which railroads, copper mines, steel mills and oil wells are the body—and they are living entities that beat day and night, like our hearts, in the sacred function of supporting human life, but only so long as they remain our body, only so long as they remain the expression, the reward and the property of achievement.

He could help her to live; he could not help her to decide for what purpose she wished to go on living.

But the work of building a path was a living sum, so that no day was left to die behind her, but each day contained all those that preceded it, each day acquired its immortality on every succeeding tomorrow.

After all, it doesn’t make any difference to the poor whether their livelihood is at the mercy of an industrialist or of a bureaucrat.”

He had once built his fortune, starting out with empty hands; now he had to rebuild his life, starting out with an empty spirit.

Now I envy you—if you’ve been able to take a month off every summer for twelve years.”

She was watching the work, her glance intent and purposeful, the glance of competence enjoying its own function.