- 1st Law Newsletter
- Posts
- Dependance as a virtue (103)
Focus for the week
Will you give up your dreams and ambition for the greater good? It’s common theme in our lives—to live for others, to place others above ourselves. However, if we are really striving for progress, this achieves nothing. For progress and development, we need to live for ourselves first. We must find our purpose and create. The highest virtue is not to give, but to create. If we do not create, there is nothing to distribute. The need for the creator comes before any possible beneficiary.
Will you choose egotism (sacrifice of others for the self) or altruism (sacrifice of the self for others)? Two flawed options. They tie us to others and give us a choice of pain: either our own pain, borne for the sake of others, or the pain inflicted upon others for the sake of the self. But the choice is not between self-sacrifice or domination. The real choice must be reframed to one between independence and dependance. Be an independent thinker. The first person to discover fire was probably burned at the stake. You may be going against the grain, but you should stand up for what you believe in.
Ideas from The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
What I’m Reading
Last week I read The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I thought it was entertaining, and he had some good lines, but it is a pretty silly book. I can see why it has a cult following but it was nothing too special in my eyes. This week I will be reading How To Start A Cult by Jody Raynsford.
“In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”
“You know," said Arthur, "it's at times like this, when I'm trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young."
"Why, what did she tell you?"
"I don't know, I didn't listen.”
“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”
Have a great week :)
Lucas