Did it ever occur to you... that there is no conflict of interests among men, neither in business nor in trade nor in their most personal desires — if they omit the irrational from their view of the possible and destruction from their view of the practical? There is no conflict, and no call for sacrifice, and no man is a threat to the aims of another — if men understand that reality is an absolute not to be faked, that lies do not work, that the unearned cannot be had, that the undeserved cannot be given, that the destruction of a value which is, will not bring value to that which isn’t.
The businessman who wishes to gain a market by throttling a superior competitor, the worker who wants a share of his employer’s wealth, the artist who envies a rival’s higher talent — they are all wishing facts out of existence, and destruction is the only means of their wish. If they pursue it, they will not achieve a market, a fortune or immortal fame — they will merely destroy production, employment and art. A wish for the irrational is not to be achieved, whether the sacrificial victims are willing or not.
Taken from Ayn Rand's novel, Atlas Shrugged. I couldn't have said it better myself -- but I will keep right on trying.
More: Quotes, Ethics, Objectivism
2 comments:
Fairly hard to say it better, really!
Microsoft, Symantec both come to mind, buying out the competition and relatively instantly killing those superior products, whilst taking the credit for any innovations belated assimilated into the new owner's later releases...
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