Rationality, Integrity, Independence, Honesty, Justice, Productiveness and PRIDE.
In the 25th anniversary edition of The Fountainhead, in Ayn Rand's preface to that edition she cites a quote from Nietzche, (after disavowing herself from his explicit philosophy) and if I recall, she speaks of her hesitance to use his quote because she did not want to be associated with him, however she did feel that this particular quote captured part of her sense of life, and that is, "A noble soul has reverence for itself."
If and when I succeed in living in accordance with reason, purpose, self-esteem and the principles above, the culmination will and should be PRIDE.
My goal in Being the Hero of My Own Life is to be Happy, which will come from the achievement of goals aligned with my values, then what I will feel will not only be Happiness but also Pride in having accomplished this Happiness.
I am writing this on a cruise ship on which I recently finished John Allison's book "The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure" which I can't recommend highly enough.
In his final chapter, which I have to assume contains the seeds of his next book, which I now have to get, (I believe it is called something to the effect of "The Leadership Crisis and the Free Market Cure"), the author very eloquently shows why productive work must be not only a person's main focus, but also the root of a person's happiness and self-esteem.
My blog is non profit, and I am quoting the book only because John Allison is doing so much better a job of expressing the views I believe in, than I can. I hope in doing do, I am not transgressing any copyright laws, and hopefully encouraging more people to go out and buy his books.
I believe the reason he wrote these books is "to make the world a better place" (which he describes as a "selfish" goal), and my guess is that he will welcome any opportunity to have his ideas spread. However, if I am mistaken, I will gladly remove these quotes.
Thanks for reading.... in the next entry I will speak of "Open-Mindedness".....
