Shakespeare Quote

Shakespeare – Madison Nef
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
This was one of Shakespeare’s well known quotes. It is from his play “As You Like It” and begins a speech often referred to as “the seven ages of man”. But I am writing about neither the play nor the speech- I am writing about the meaning of the quote. I think that Shakespeare was trying to say that in life, you have many parts to play, many tasks to do- and to each person you play a different role.
For example- John might seem like a nice, obedient, good son to his parents, but at the same time when he is with his friends he is perceived as rebellious, funny and a daredevil. To his older sister, he might seem like a nuisance, a pest and adorable. It all depends on who you are with. When Shakespeare says that all men and women are players, and have their exits and entrances, he means that some people will only be in your life for a little while, before they are gone. It is the IMPACT that they have on your life that matters.
For instance, you can pass by someone on the street and say hello to them, and then you may never see them again… they left your life, and had almost no impact. On the other hand, you could pass someone on the street, say hi to them, and ask them out on a date… and they could become your boy/girl friend. No matter how long they stay, they will have impact on your life. The reference to the “seven ages” is simply the stages of life- infancy, childhood, teen years, adulthood, mid-adulthood, elder, and dependency.
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then, the whining school-boy with his satchel
and shining morning face, creeping like a snail
unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then, a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden, and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then, the justice,
In fair round belly, with a good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws, and modern instances,
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well sav'd, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand
By Madison Nef

 Ayn Rand is a well known objectivist. She described her philosophy as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." She believed that the poor living off of money taken unwillingly from the rich was bad, and would only lead to economic collapse over the years- because the poor would filch too much money, and there would not be enough to support everyone. She said that every man should "exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself."

 Ayn was also a well-known author, her two most known books being “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged”. In both of these books, Ayn described an ideal human being- a person who lives on their own effort, does not take OR give the undeserved, and rejects envy. Rand believed that there was no greater goal than achieving happiness, and that every person has the ability to live a fulfilling, happy and independent life. She believed that a person should be motivated to improve themselves, and that by improving themselves, it would cause them happiness.

 Rand also believed in charities- even going as far to say that the CHARITY alone should take care of it’s cause, not the government. That way, a person would have a choice to donate or not, depending on  their view. Instead, the government take money for the poor from us by force, and Rand believed that if this type of thievery went on, the economy would collapse. This is what Rand had to say about the government in her book “The Virtue of Selfishness”:
“The only proper purpose of a government is to protect man’s rights, which means: to protect him from physical violence. A proper government is only a policeman, acting as an agent of man’s self-defense, and, as such, may resort to force only against those who start the use of force. The only proper functions of a government are: the police, to protect you from criminals; the army, to protect you from foreign invaders; and the courts, to protect your property and contracts from breach or fraud by others, to settle disputes by rational rules, according to objective law.

  But a government that initiates the employment of force against men who had forced no one, the employment of armed compulsion against disarmed victims, is a nightmare infernal machine designed to annihilate morality: such a government reverses its only moral purpose and switches from the role of protector to the role of man’s deadliest enemy, from the role of policeman to the role of a criminal vested with the right to the wielding of violence against victims deprived of the right of self-defense.” 

 Rand also liked the capitalist idea of a free market. However, she did not like the fact that the government wanted to butt into everything- she believed, as mentioned above, that the government was there to PROTECT the people- not to run their lives and their money. This is what Rand had to say about capitalism:

 “The recognition of individual rights entails the banishment of physical force from human relationships: basically, rights can be violated only by means of force. In a capitalist society, no man or group may initiate the use of physical force against others. The only function of the government, in such a society, is the task of protecting man’s rights, i.e., the task of protecting him from physical force; the government acts as the agent of man’s right of self-defense, and may use force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use; thus the government is the means of placing the retaliatory use of force under objective control.”

 Rand did not like communism from a young age. She said that from the age of 12 when the Russian revolution was going on and she first heard about the communist principle that she disliked it. She said she found the principle of man living for the sake of the State awful, and said that that was her reason for disliking it then, as a child, and that it was still her reason for disliking it as an adult. Rand was astonished that so many adults could not understand the effects of communism AS ADULTS, being she had understood it as a child.

 “Communists, like all materialists, are neo-mystics: it does not matter whether one rejects the mind in favor of revelations or in favor of conditioned reflexes. The basic premise and the results are the same.” - Ayn Rand, We The Living

 “The Communists’ chief purpose is to destroy every form of independence—independent work, independent action, independent property, independent thought, an independent mind, or an independent man. Conformity, alikeness, servility, submission and obedience are necessary to establish a Communist slave-state.” - Ayn Rand, Philosophy: Who Needs It

 But who was Ayn Rand BEFORE she wrote her books? BEFORE she became known as a great philosopher?

 Rand was born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum on February 2nd, 1905 to a Russian/Jewish family in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Rand was a very bright child, and had no troubles with school- in fact, she was writing plays and novels at age 8! She was also very interested in politics and philosophy, even at a young age- at the prestigious Stoiunina Gymnasium, her closest friend was Vladimir Nobokov's younger sister, Olga. The two girls shared an intense interest in politics and would engage in debates: while Nabokov defended constitutional monarchy, Rand supported republican ideals.

 Ayn graduated from high school at age 16, deciding she was an atheist, as she believed in reason above all else. During the Revolutions, her father’s business struggled, and her family almost starved on some occasions. Rand graduated from Petograd State University in 1924, and took the surname Rand for her writing, and adopted the name Ayn. 

 Ayn visited the US for the first time in 1926, to visit relatives. She was overwhelmed with the beauty of the Manhattan skyline, and decided that this was where she would stay. She also wanted to launch her career as a playwright. One of her relatives owned a movie theater, and let her watch movies for free. She soon moved to Hollywood, where she took small odd jobs to help pay for her everyday needs and her rent. Her first literary success came with the sale of her play, “Red Pawn”... even though it was never produced. However, her next play, “Night of January 16th”, was produced, and was shown on Broadway. A movie about the play was made in 1941, but Rand did not participate at all in it’s making and was highly critical of the result. Her first book, “We the Living,” was published in 1936.

 Ayn’s most famous book, still being sold decades after her death, was “Atlas Shrugged”. Rand incorporated a lot of her philosophy into this book- “Atlas Shrugged” tells of economic breakdown- numerous factories shutting down, causing riots and decaying the world. Ayn also portrayed her idea of man’s highest potential in life through her book, and also described an ideal human- one who lives on their own effort, does not take OR give the undeserved, and rejects envy.

 Atlas Shrugged Quotes:
“Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value.” That quote was said by one of Rand’s characters, Francisco d’Anconia, during his “money speech”. It is a very capitalist argument- about how free trade should be allowed, and that if man was going to trade HIS goods, he should choose his own price depending on quality- “give value for value”. 

 “...man exists for the achievement of his desires...” Another quote from Atlas Shrugged, this one coming from Hank Rearden. This is an objectivist view- man existing for happiness (or in this case, desires), and living for the feeling of good and achievement. This was one of Ayn’s main philosophies.“...the sight of an achievement was the greatest gift a human being could offer to others.”

 “Money is made... made by the effort of every honest man, each to the extent of his ability. An honest man is one who knows that he can't consume more than he has produced.” This quote, in my opinion, goes against the communist theory. A honest man wouldn’t over-charge for a product he knew was worth less. He wouldn’t fall back on money he knew he could never repay. He wouldn’t steal money from another who has worked equally as hard for his money. The government steals money from us, and cushions the poor- and the honest, hardworking people often end up in the gutter because of it.

 “There are no evil thoughts except one: the refusal to think.” Rand was a HUGE thinker- she believed reason and thought were the best ways to solve problems. She placed reason before all else- including her religion. She expresses her disliking of people who do not think deeply in this one, simple quote. (This quote actually reminds me of you, Dad, every time you tell me you are teaching me to think.) “It was the greatest sensation of existence: not to trust, but to know.”

 “You do not have to depend on any material possessions, they depend on you, you create them, you own the one and only tool of production.” We DO tend to rely on material things a bit too much... Rand has a good point with this quote. Without our existence, material things wouldn’t even be here. We could stop production of EVERYTHING if we wanted to... but the sad truth is, that we have grown to the point where we DO need to depend on them. It is awful, but true. But material things don’t matter- it isn’t like we take any of the stuff with us to the grave.“Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value.”

 “What greater wealth is there than to own your life and to spend it on growing? Every living thing must grow. It can't stand still. It must grow or perish.” Rand is using one of her famous philosophies in this quote too- another thing that man should dote on is improving himself, and by improving himself find happiness. If you aren’t happy... what’s the point of living?

 “Every man builds his world in his own image... He has the power to choose, but no power to escape the necessity of choice.” So basically- life is what you make it. You can choose the way to perceive each and every situation- in a happy way, taking the optimist route, or the pessimistic route of seeing everything as bad. But there is no maybe- no in-between. “Thought—he told himself quietly—is a weapon one uses in order to act... Thought is the tool by which one makes a choice... Thought sets one's purpose and the way to reach it.”

 “You don't have to see through the eyes of others, hold onto yours, stand on your own judgment, you know that what is, is–say it aloud, like the holiest of prayers, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.” And once you’ve made your choice? Hold your ground. Don’t believe anyone else’s nonsense when you know the truth. Use REASON to find the truth... in Rand’s eyes, logic and reason were everything. “Your mind is your only judge of truth–and if others dissent from your verdict, reality is the court of final appeal. Independence is the recognition of the fact that yours is the responsibility of judgment and nothing can help you escape it–that no substitute can do your thinking...”

 It’s amazing how someone from such a rough background can grow up to be someone so important- Rand is a true inspiration and has influenced MANY lives through her writing-from famous people, to ordinary people like you and I. Rand died of heart failure after complications from a lung cancer surgery on March 6th, 1982- but her legacy lives on through her books, which are still being sold today, and her philosophy of happiness, achievement, and logic.
“Ask yourself whether the dream of heaven and greatness should be left waiting for us in our graves-or whether it should be ours here and now and on this earth.” - Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

“Achieving life is not the equivalent of avoiding death.” - Ayn Rand

Maddie

Rene Descartes

Rene Descartes

“I think, therefore I am.” This was French philosopher Rene Descartes’ famous quote. Descartes wanted to make it known that the human senses COULD be deceived, using many various arguments. One of his well known ones is his dream argument. He describes sitting by a fire in his room during the dream and being able to feel the fire- even though in reality there was no fire, and therefore no sensation of fire. He then goes on to say that if his senses cannot distinguish between dream and reality, then how can he be sure of the feeling of warmth when he is awake?

Descartes even suggested not even knowing what he was- saying that if the senses could be misled, how did he know that he wasn’t being controlled by an evil being bent on deceiving him? He said that it was fully possible that he was just a brain being fed illusions and ideas by another entity. I agree with his theorization here- I sometimes wonder if the world is some larger beings’ playmat.

However, Descartes only used these arguments as examples- he didn’t expect anyone to believe them, he just wanted to get across that the senses CAN be deceived. The British empiricists did not like Descartes’ arguments on the senses for they believed that most knowledge was obtained through the senses. Descartes decided that to prove reality to himself, he would test things before believing them- coming up with his own conclusions. However, in his acts of reconstruction, he figured that taking time over every little idea would be a waste of time, and so tackled the biggest problem: the senses.

While Descartes did not trust the senses, he DID believe that honest facts could be determined a different way- through science. He believed that by breaking down each problem into its simplest parts, he could remove all unreliable sense perceptions and solve the problem by using reason instead. What gets me is, WHY, out of ALL THINGS, would Descartes choose science and reason over the senses? Science and reason are man made structures- of COURSE they can be deceived, much more so than your God-given senses!

Descartes’ famous quote, “I think, therefore I am,” comes from one of his arguments- that just because he can think, it proves human existence. There must be an ‘I’ to do the thinking- therefore proving he is SOMETHING. While this does not prove that he has hands, hair, or any other type of body, it clarifies that he has a brain and has the power to use reason and have his own ideas.

Descartes also believed that everyone is born with reason. He also believed that by using common logic in all of his arguments and books that anyone could understand and agree with him. He often wrote his books in Latin, for scholars, but would sometimes write in his native French language, so even people with less education could read his works.