Photo © D. Paul Graham: “Hope in an Alley”, Savannah 2024

 “Monday 5 Things”™ ….. Would Atlas Shrug Today? …..

Ten years ago. My how time flies. I first wrote this missive in 2014.  As I started reading the book again last week, in the midst of chaotic timing on a whole number of levels, I opted to give myself a bit of a writing respite and reshare this. If you haven’t read ‘Atlas Shrugged’, I highly recommend it.

I am indebted to Mr. Hyatt, my high school English teacher, who suggested I read Atlas Shrugged when I was a restless teen-ager trying to figure out some things in life. It struck a chord with me then and still does today. I’ve re-read the book every 2 years since I first cracked the cover open. Over the years, at least 3 hard cover and 8 soft cover versions have either fallen apart from bent pages and underlines or were left on planes or restaurants in numerous cities. Rand spent 12 years writing the book before it was published in 1957; the relevance and profundity of her tour de force still resonates today, arguably even more so than when Atlas Shrugged was first released. Here are five of my favorite quotes from the book.

1. Tool

“Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.”

2. Opinions

“It is not advisable James to venture unsolicited opinions. You should spare yourself the embarrassing discovery of their exact value to your listener.”

3. Barometer

“Watch money. Money is the barometer of a society’s virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion—when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing—when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors—when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you—when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice—you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that it does not compete with guns, and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot.”

4. Labor

“There’s no surer way to destroy a man than to force him into a spot where he has to aim at not doing his best, where he has to struggle to do a bad job, day after day.”

5. Rights

“Just as man can’t exist without his body, so no rights can exist without the right to translate one’s rights into reality-to think, to work and to keep the results – which means: the right of property.”

Here’s to Dagny, Hank, Francisco, Ragnar and to finding out who John Galt really is. Have a great week!

© 2014 & 2024 D. Paul Graham, all rights reserved.

For over 12 years, D. Paul Graham has published “Monday 5 Things” ™, also known to readers as M5T.

You can reach Paul by email at dpg@imagegraham.com