The Fountainhead: Thoughts…

I’ve recently been reading Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. I’ve not yet finished the book (just a few pages short) and already it’s one of my favourites, easy to determine why it’s considered a modern classic. Although a platform for Objectivism, in a rather extremist fashion, it still addresses important social ideas with recurring themes that hold just as much relevance today, as it did when first published.

Anyhow, the book has got me thinking on various matters, both personal and professional… I thought I’d add a bit of pre-amble to the following conjecture…

It is possible to view relationships in a non-linear manner. For example, friendships can be viewed to begin and end upon two distinct thresholds. However, this doesn’t have to be so. Even if a friendship is ended, that person can simply become a friend that is no longer in contact.

Some would view this as a form self-denial. But for me, it’s a form of disillusionment, a statement of immediate indifference, with underlying understanding and perhaps enshrinement of what the friendship held at its peak. This path, which treats all relationships as circles, means that any friendship can be re-visited, without any explanation or false apology.

In many senses, it’s claiming ownership of your portion of a friendship. Because, even though the friendship involved multiple actors, none could possibly have experienced it from your perspective, you own that perspective. Acknowledging and agreeing to your perspective, is ownership, and responsibility.

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  1. Michael (Aracos)’s avatar

    You wrote:
    “…that person can simply become a friend that is no longer in contact.”

    Indeed!
    Miss having you on TDN forums Friend Yibble. If you made it through The Fountainhead, may I suggest Rand’s Anthem as a work that is just as powerful but a WHOLE LOT SHORTER.

    Oh, and congrats and welcome (belatedly) to Fatherhood! :)

  2. yibble’s avatar

    Hi Michael,

    Recently, I have come to miss the forums as well. Perhaps that means that my cycle of absence is coming to an end. With the change in my life, with little Austin, pretty much addressing the reasons I let my membership lapse.

    I have ‘Atlas Shrugged’ on my list as too, although I hear it’s quite similar to ‘The Fountainhead’. In your opinion, should I read ‘Anthem’ before or after ‘Atlas Shrugged’?

    Thanks for the good wishes. It’s awesome, and like so many things in life, I knew I was missing out on something big, but I had no idea that the feelings would be like this :D