Атлант расправил плечи
The Egoist
Youdon’tknowhowlonelyIwas,howstarvedforsomesparkofintelligence!Howlonelyandtiredandhelpless!Whyshouldamindlikeminehavetobargainwithignorantfools?
They’dnevercontributeapennytoscience!Whyshouldn’ttheybeforced?Itwasn’tyouthatIwantedtoforce!Thatgunwasnotaimedattheintellect!Itwasn’taimedatmenlikeyouandme,onlyatmindlessmaterialists!...Whydoyoulookatmethatway?Ihadnochoice!
Thereisn’tanychoiceexcepttobeatthemattheirowngame!Ohyes,itistheirgame,theysettherules!Whatdowecount,thefewwhocanthink?Wecanonlyhopetogetby,unnoticed—andtotrickthemintoservingouraims!...Don’tyouknowhownobleapurposeitwas—myvisionofthefutureofscience?Humanknowledgesetfreeofmaterialbonds!Anunlimitedendunrestrictedbymeans!Iamnotatraitor,John!I’mnot!Iwasservingthecauseofthemind!WhatIsawahead,whatIwanted,whatIfelt,wasnottobemeasuredintheirmiserabledollars!Iwantedalaboratory!Ineededit!WhatdoIcarewhereitcamefromorhow?Icoulddosomuch!Icouldreachsuchheights!
Don’tyouhaveanypity?Iwantedit!...Whatiftheyhadtobeforced?Whoaretheytothink,anyway?Whydidyouteachthemtorebel?Itwouldhaveworked,ifyouhadn’twithdrawnthem!Itwouldhaveworked,Itellyou!Itwouldn’tbe—likethis!...Don’taccuseme!Wecan’tbeguilty...allofus...forcenturies...Wecan’tbesototallywrong!...
