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Ernest Hemingway
Real-life author Ayn Rand (1929–1979) is one of the writers that visits the narrator’s school over the course of his senior year. Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and studied there during the Russian Revolution and the rise of the communist government before coming to the United States. She is best known for her books The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Rand’s objectivist philosophy condemns collectivism and altruism, and she is a virulent supporter of capitalism and egoism. In Old School, the narrator is at first empowered by the strong characters in Rand’s books—but he gradually realizes that her characters are unrealistic, have few meaningful relationships, and harshly criticize any perceived weakness.
Ayn Rand Quotes in Old School
The Old School quotes below are all either spoken by Ayn Rand or refer to Ayn Rand. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4: Übermensch
Quotes
I was discovering the force of my will. To read The Fountainhead was to feel this caged power, straining like a dammed-up river to break loose and crush every impediment to its free running. I understood that nothing stood between me and my greatest desires—nothing between me and greatness itself—but the temptation to doubt my will and bow to counsels of moderation, expedience, and conventional morality, and shrink into the long, slow death of respectability.
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Chapter 5: Slice of Life
Quotes
I blamed Ayn Rand for disregarding all this. And I no doubt blamed her even more because I had disregarded it myself—because for years now I had hidden my family in calculated silences and vague hints and dodges, suggesting another family in its place. The untruth of my position had given me an obscure, chronic sense of embarrassment, yet since I hadn’t outright lied I could still blind myself to its cause. Unacknowledged shame enters the world as anger; I naturally turned mine against the snobbery of others, in the present case Ayn Rand.
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Get the entire Old School LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ayn Rand Quotes in Old School
The Old School quotes below are all either spoken by Ayn Rand or refer to Ayn Rand. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4: Übermensch
Quotes
I was discovering the force of my will. To read The Fountainhead was to feel this caged power, straining like a dammed-up river to break loose and crush every impediment to its free running. I understood that nothing stood between me and my greatest desires—nothing between me and greatness itself—but the temptation to doubt my will and bow to counsels of moderation, expedience, and conventional morality, and shrink into the long, slow death of respectability.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5: Slice of Life
Quotes
I blamed Ayn Rand for disregarding all this. And I no doubt blamed her even more because I had disregarded it myself—because for years now I had hidden my family in calculated silences and vague hints and dodges, suggesting another family in its place. The untruth of my position had given me an obscure, chronic sense of embarrassment, yet since I hadn’t outright lied I could still blind myself to its cause. Unacknowledged shame enters the world as anger; I naturally turned mine against the snobbery of others, in the present case Ayn Rand.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
