Fountainhead

I have just reached the stage in the book Fountainhead by Ayn Rand where the protagonist, Howard Roark, makes a deal with Peter Keating, a fellow architect in relation to a deal involving a public housing project. Howard wants merely to design the housing project as he views it as a technical challenge given the cost constraints. He signs a deal with Peter, where he will not get any credit or commission in return for the guarantee that the building is built just as he designs it. Peter realises in that moment, for the first time throughout the entire book that it is Howard who is getting more in that deal.

A selfish man who is chasing things that would make him popular in the eyes of others is actually a selfless man as he is living second hand by aspiring for the acceptance of others. A true egotist is one who lives by his own ideals and for the work itself. This was how Howard Roark presented himself and his thoughts in the book. Another part of the book which got me thinking was when Howard told a man he respected a lot that he would die for him but that he lives for himself. The book continually tried to put forth the notion that men fulfilling their own individual interests is better than the men focussed on the collective and it was an interesting perspective. It seems it might be worthwhile to define what my interests are and strive to fulfil them.