Comments on: Quote: Ayn Rand on the Root of All Evil

By: Out

Out — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:22:04 +0000

If anyone actually bothered to read the Rand text, you would find that she does address the, “love of money” as well in her dissection of this irrational quote. She knew the quote well and she refutes it completely.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:49:17 +0000

Money is only materialistic. The root of all money is humanity. The one’s who make unethical choices and rash decisions are usually people who have no moral values. Greed is what gave money its ‘evil’ roots and people are the ones who show greed. Just look at our nation in an economic crisis which was caused by a few individuals whose greed got the best of them. This comment is not made from a ‘pointing fingers’ perspective but from a perspective on how individuals who have malicious intentions of financial gain can affect society as a whole.

By: Ron

Ron — Sun, 18 May 2008 05:43:00 +0000

It is a shame when people make a sentence so hard to understand, maybe people need more reading to understand her books, and you cannot judge a “filosofo” by one quote. the sentence
it is realy simple let me explain in first grade level
“the love of money”, love is a good feeling, you make love a bad feeling, when you you love something bad!
in this sentence the MONEY is the evil caracther. so money is the root of all evil, as would be Satan. The thing here is that they put the money as responsible of one evils acts, and it is not true. the love to succeed can not be evil. beign a parasite is evil, and anything you do is because you choose, not the money.the root of all evil is the love of beating others, instead of the desire of achieving…..

By: JET

JET — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:19:17 +0000

Rand is a philosopher in the same sense that Paris Hilton is a musician. And anyone who thinks any of Rand’s ponderous and stilted prose is “written extremely well” needs to read more.

By: izzymeckler

izzymeckler — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:49:37 +0000

Wrong^
More Rand:
“There is a fundamental moral difference between a man who sees his self-interest in production and a man who sees it in robbery. The evil of a robber does not lie in the fact that he pursues his own interests, but in what he regards as to his own interest; not in the fact that he pursues his values, but in what he chose to value; not in the fact that he wants to live, but in the fact that he wants to live on a subhuman level (see “The Objectivist Ethics”).

“If it is true that what I mean by “selfishness” is not what is meant conventionally, then this is one of the worst indictments of altruism: it means that altruism permits no concept of a self-respecting, self-supporting man—a man who supports his life by his own effort and neither sacrifices himself nor others. It means that altruism permits no view of men except as sacrificial animals and profiteers-on-sacrifice, as victims and parasites—that it permits no concept of a benevolent co-existence among men—that it permits no concept of justice.”

By: lordunger

lordunger — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:32:08 +0000

In my opinion, selfishness is the root of all evil. Loving money and getting money are products of selfishness.

By: phoenix

phoenix — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:20:01 +0000

@DCer - got it in one!

By: Sid Morrison

Sid Morrison — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:47:49 +0000

I liked Atlas Shrugged a good bit, but I thought the hundred page speeches by the protagonist were a bit much. The characters in Atlas are really one-dimensional as well — you know who is good and who is bad when you first meet them and you don’t changed your mind much through the book. Her better work (IMO) is The Fountainhead, where the characters are a little more “grey”.

Oh, I also get irked when people (including Rand) misquote the famous words of St. Paul which spoke of the LOVE of money, not money itelf. Money itself is neither good nor bad, it is merely a tool to efficiently trade goods and services.

By: Ali S.

Ali S. — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:06:59 +0000

After having read “Atlas Shrugged” all I can say is never have I been so disgusted by a book. And I freakin’ LOVE books! I couldn’t stand the end where she bloody well starts preaching to the reader. If it takes an author to get to a point using more than 200 pages of bad metaphors and lame examples and disregard of simple economics then that author isn’t doing something right. In this case trying to write a philosophical novel.

Next time I want to make a person to stop reading or have a love for books I’ll give them my copy of “Atlas Shrugged”. Ugh. I need to go clean my palate now.

By: Tempscire

Tempscire — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:59:20 +0000

The speech this comes from goes on for about 5 pages and is written extremely well

Except she completely fails the whole “show, don’t tell” rule for writing. Whatever the agenda of a novel, an author should not ever have characters lecturing the reader for pages on end.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:49:59 +0000

Work is the root of all money…. work is evil…? I knew it!!

By: uh durrrrr

uh durrrrr — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:45:40 +0000

The Central Banks.

By: smak

smak — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:18:57 +0000

>> how can one misintepret a line they create?

Ayn Rand didn’t come up with the saying, “The LOVE of money is the root of all evil.” She’s simply misquoting it to further her warped Objectivist philosophy.

@ qwhacker: I wouldn’t pick up ‘Atlas Shrugged’ again except to use it to prop open a door or window.

By: qwhacker

qwhacker — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:54:59 +0000

if anyone is interested in reading the whole passage that this was based on, flip to page 380 of Atlas Shrugged. The speech this comes from goes on for about 5 pages and is written extremely well

By: j.d.

j.d. — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:51:04 +0000

how can one misintepret a line they create?

if you read the passage, maybe you’d understand.

knee-jerk reactions are always funny to read, because it takes just a few comments to set them straight.

By: DCer

DCer — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:26:36 +0000

Ayn Rand misunderstands the quote, like she misunderstands humanity and economics.

By: brandon

brandon — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:05:36 +0000

The root of all money is work. Work is the endeavor of the highest honor. Thus, money cannot be the root of all evil. The root of evil can be found in the desire to obtain things without the input of effort.

By: Max Power

Max Power — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:46:35 +0000

Far as I know, the jews?

By: MoonCake

MoonCake — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:34:31 +0000

the ‘print’ button?

By: Pudifoot

Pudifoot — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:00:12 +0000

Joe: no, both are nouns.

(from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/evil)
Evil: n.
1. The quality of being morally bad or wrong; wickedness.
2. That which causes harm, misfortune, or destruction: a leader’s power to do both good and evil.
3. An evil force, power, or personification.
4. Something that is a cause or source of suffering, injury, or destruction: the social evils of poverty and injustice.

By: joe

joe — Tue, 13 May 2008 09:06:51 +0000

evil is an action (in this context)

money is a noun

so her quote makes no sense, much like everything else she ever wrote

By: Alex Fear

Alex Fear — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:36:32 +0000

Enron?

By: james h

james h — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:10:59 +0000

She doesn’t even get the quote right. It’s “love of money”.

By: Shay

Shay — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:06:13 +0000

Those darned self-sacrificing altruists?