Атлант расправил плечи
Wyatt’s torch
animmortalname...whywouldyoudothis?"
"BecauseIamaphilosopher,MissTaggart."
Sheknewwithcertainty—eventhoughshefeltasifhercapacityforcertaintyandforunderstandingweregone—thatshewouldobtainnohelpfromhim,thatquestionswereuseless,thathewouldgivehernoexplanation,neitheroftheinventor’sfatenorofhisown.
"Giveitup,MissTaggart,"hesaidquietly,asifgivingproofthathecouldguessherthoughts,asshehadknownhewould."Itisahopelessquest,themorehopelessbecauseyouhavenoinklingofwhatanimpossibletaskyouhavechosentoundertake.Iwouldliketospareyouthestrainoftryingtodevisesomeargument,trickorpleathatwouldmakemegiveyoutheinformationyouareseeking.Takemywordforit:itcan’tbedone.YousaidI’mtheendofyourtrail.It’sablindalley,MissTaggart.Donotattempttowasteyourmoneyandeffortonother,moreconventionalmethodsofinquiry:donothiredetectives.Theywilllearnnothing.Youmaychoosetoignoremywarning,butIthinkthatyouareapersonofhighintelligence,abletoknowthatIknowwhatIamsaying.Giveitup.Thesecretyouaretryingtosolveinvolvessomethinggreater—muchgreater—thantheinventionofamotorrunbyatmosphericelectricity.ThereisonlyonehelpfulsuggestionthatIcangiveyou:Bytheessenceandnatureofexistence,contradictionscannotexist.
