"I like cigarettes. I like to think of fire held in a man's hand. Fire, a dangerous force, tamed at his fingertips. I often wonder about the hours when a man sits alone, watching the smoke of a cigarette, thinking. I wonder what great things have come from such hours.
When a man thinks, there is a spot of fire alive in his mind and it is proper that he should have the burning point of a cigarette as his one expression."
- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
7 comments:
i was wondering when this one would come up... :-)
Ah, you have stirred some very 'rich' memories there for me. Its been a while since I read Rand (again) and that is one of the highlights. The other favourite being D'Anconia's money monologue... Thank you for that.
Feel bad I gave up smoking sometimes. Now is one of those times.
It not really a question of whether you smoke or not anymore, its the feelings that you associate with a cigarette that make you appreciate her words.
I grasp that (somehow). What I mean is that I can no longer take part in that, er... what do I call it... as in I can't 're-enact' that metaphor anymore... you understand? |running on a schedule and unable to hunt for the right words right now|
"Cigarrete smoking is injurious to health" ... :)
There are somethings in life every body is free to explore. But then if you believe the illusionary world of smoking addicts is the same as the ideas created by great men then I must say I disagree. Smoking does not in any way lead you to be a great thinker. Time spent alone itself leads to new ideas and smoking is no way contributing to that.
Nobody says that you have to smoke to come up with great ideas... Its the author's point of view and she has just used this example as an analogy. It is the beauty of her words and imagination that i would expect people to notice.
Well, one of your comments captures my thought. It's the aesthetics of the sentence that impresses us. Nothing too glorious about smoking though. I like the smoke coming out of the mouth in a swirl (or in a ring or in the way you want it), doesn't feel great in the lungs though. :)
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