Anthem by Ayn Rand 1

Ayn Rand's Anthem, a novelette

("Ayn" rhymes with "fine", the reader mispronounces it as "Ann")

This novelette depicts a world of the future, a society so collectivized that even the word "I" has vanished from the language. Anthem's theme is: the meaning and glory of man's ego.

Ayn Rand was a Russian-born American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is widely known for her best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism.

She is known as a defender of objective reality, absolute reason, a morality she called rational selfishness/rational egoism, laissez-faire capitalism (please note, she WAS NOT A "LIBERTARIAN"), and romantic art.

"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." --Ayn Rand

"I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man,
nor ask another man to live for the sake of mine." --Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Other titles of interest:

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
http://www.amazon.com/Objectivism-Philosophy-Ayn-Rand-Library/dp/0452011019/r...
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451191145/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=U...
We The Living by Ayn Rand
http://www.amazon.com/We-Living-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451187849/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF...
The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand
http://www.amazon.com/Virtue-Selfishness-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451163931/ref=pd_bbs_2?...
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand
http://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-Ideal-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451147952/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1...
The Romantic Manifesto by Ayn Rand
http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Manifesto-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451149165/ref=pd_bbs_sr...
Essays on Ayn Rand's Anthem by Dr. Robert Mayhew
http://www.aynrandbookstore2.com/prodinfo.asp?number=AR79B
Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand by Dr. Leonard Peikoff
http://www.amazon.com/Objectivism-Philosophy-Ayn-Rand-Library/dp/0452011019/r...


Anthem Essay contest for 9th and 10th Graders, FIRST PRIZE: $2,000:
http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=education_contests_anthem

for more info, visit http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index

(Anthem is in the public domain)

Text of Anthem:
http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/texts/anthem/complete.html

Buy Anthem:
http://www.amazon.com/Anthem-Ayn-Rand/dp/0452281253/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&a...

Anthem's Influence on Rush:

The title track on the 1976 concept album 2112, by progressive rock band Rush, has a story that very strongly parallels Anthem (although, perhaps naturally, the protagonist of 2112 discovers a guitar instead of a light bulb). The liner notes of the album acknowledge "the genius of Ayn Rand."


Neil Peart, Drummer/Songwriter for Rush, said that 2112 was based on Anthem and inspired by it; though he did say that he didn't notice that they were so alike until afterwards, and so thought that it was necessary to provide a reference. Through his success as a Songwriter and drummer in pop culture, Neil Peart has become one of the biggest popularizers of Rand's ideas, although that was not the purpose of 2112 or his song "Anthem" on their earlier album Fly by Night. (Wikipedia)

Tags: The Giver by Lois Lowry, dystopian, dystopia science-fiction novella, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Yevgeny Zamyatin's novel We, Neil Peart, collectivism, communism, collectivism,Ayn Rand Anthem Objectivism Objectivist individualism Neil Peart philosophy Rush 2112 communism The Giver Ron Paul God Alan Greenspan, Robert Hessen, freedom, liberty, USSR, soviet union

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[shovelcharge]

@mussman717word You are funny. Ayn Rand wasn't a conservative and free enterprise is the only thing that has ever created wealth and the only system that has ever made the poor's standard of living go up and allow them to become rich.

[Gendibar]

Government = Tryanny The government that governs best governs least.

Ayn Rand understood the power of the individual. Most collectivists just don't get it. Obama is one of them. He is so pathetic. Worse yet are the dolts who voted for him.

[DOLLARSGROUPCOM]

WE ARE DOLLARS AND WE SAY NO FOR ACTA

[xXxxxxDUDExxxxXx]

Audio sucks. Read the book.

[WhiteFang5285]

Maybe we be forgiven!

[AsclepiasA]

Why did you no finish the audio? ^.^ tm

[AsclepiasA]

I love you, Miss Rand, you live on forever ^.^ Asclepias tm

[mussman717word]

@oconnell471

Please tell me what is reasonable about capitalism.

[oconnell471]

@mussman717word Do you have any thing to add that might reasonably be considered as fact? Your words hold no empirical truth, just emotion and confusion. Tell me what is evil about reason?