If not, why not?
I’m in no way implying that you should! I would, however, like to know: If you have decided against it, what were the reasons? Are there good reasons not to do that?
I try not to repeat any one phrase, I think that’s a sign of laziness. (I think that was Ayn’s main point too with that line, in AS)
Well, here’s my first post.
I’m new to AS myself. It’s really a breath of fresh air to me, and I think it’s given me some tools that I didn’t have before, reinforced others.
As I started reading “Who is John Galt?” in AS, I was pretty amused. Why? Well, I’m originally from Omaha, Nebraska. There is a John Galt Bouelevard there. Was really kind of a business park.
Anyway, now having really gotten into AS, I think it can be used on occasion to break the ice a little bit between those that might have read Atlas Shrugged.
Hello! Welcome to the forum! Funny about the street name. 
No, but with things as they are I may as well.
I used it as the motto for my XBox360 avatar. There’s a really strict length limit, and it seemed apropos. But I don’t think I’ve ever said it out loud in a conversation, if that’s what you’re asking.
Hello! Welcome to the forum! Funny about the street name.
Yup, I realized that I was living in my own world with a lack of knowledge of someone’s humor based on a book of philosophy…LOL! The father of a friend of mine had an advertising agency on that road. Seemed as though he was a very good capitalist.
And thanks for the welcome!
I try not to repeat any one phrase, I think that’s a sign of laziness. (I think that was Ayn’s main point too with that line, in AS)
Interesting, I hadn’t though of it that way. I do know that extensive use of clichés quickly detracts from my estimation of a person’s intelligence and capacity for independent thought.
Interesting, I hadn’t though of it that way. I do know that extensive use of clichés quickly detracts from my estimation of a person’s intelligence and capacity for independent thought.
Weird, I always thought it represented the “who am I to know?” mentality.
Weird, I always thought it represented the “who am I to know?” mentality.
That’s one reason not to use the phrase that I had thought of, but that is the way it was used in AS. In our world, the meaning is slightly different. When we see the widespread stupidity and depravity of our society, it’s easy to feel helpless, but those who ask this question know that A is A.
That’s one reason not to use the phrase that I had thought of, but that is the way it was used in AS. In our world, the meaning is slightly different. When we see the widespread stupidity and depravity of our society, it’s easy to feel helpless, but those who ask this question know that A is A.
I don’t hang out with the kind of people who don’t get what the phrase implies. And if they did get it, there would not be the need to say it.
But I sometimes say it in reply to another’s defeatist attitude, maybe they’re saying “What can one man do?” or “You do the best you can”, implying that any more effort would be unseemly or impolite.
But I think I will make an effort to say it more because there is an untapped pool of idealists out there who read AS in their youth, and are now witnessing it coming to fruition. I would be like making fish arcs on the beach. Now that they’re older and can compare the world to their idealism, they might take another look.
I said it once in the dojo, not expecting anyone to understand, and found I had found an ally.
Stay Focused,
<*>aj
I don’t say it because I think it’s kind of lame. Maybe in very appropriate situations. But that goes for a lot of things.
I don’t use it because a lot of people just wouldn’t get the reference–plus I rarely have any need to refer to Atlas Shrugged in an *ironic* manner, which is what references like that communicate.
Occaisonally in a political debate, but never out loud.
One of my favorite parts in AS is when Dagny boards the train of the John Galt Line and a reporter asks “Who is John Galt?” to which she replies “We are!” To the looters and aimless people of John Galt the question was a means of giving in to the darkness of their time but to people like us it’s a reminder of who drives the world. That’s how I think of it in most cases at least. I definitely used it some after the new president was elected.