Rand is always worth reading, even if I never entirely agree with her. She makes me think a lot & always broadens my vocabulary. Don't pick this up without a dictionary & a lot of quiet time. It's not a quick read, but something I read in small doses over several months. She makes a very valid point for selfishness & being aware of her views on it have helped me understand myself & others much better. Really an amazing departure from the politically correct but logically supported & thought through. ( )

Nathaniel Branden should receive a higher billing as the co-author, since many of the articles that make up this book are his. The book promotes Rand's philosophy of Objectivist Ethics; that rational selfishness is positive, and advances society. Every person must find his own balance between serving himself and serving others. This is the essence of Ethical Egoism and Objectivist Ethics. How can we get happiness from the simplest of life's pleasures knowing the level of suffering in the world? What duty do we have to lessen that suffering? This book explores the gray areas and the subjective aspects of morality. It discusses the deep conflicts between what our society teaches us about guilt, sin, authority, social values, motivation, success and happiness. This book explores the real motives behind people's seemingly selfish or altruistic actions. The very act of reading a book to oneself could be considered a act of selfishness. It represents hoarded time spent serving one's own self iterests, with the aim of increasing one's own satisfaction and self-worth. That could be considered a mild sin in our orthodox value system. Overall, this is a very thought-provoking compilation of articles.

I didn't expect much from this one and ended up seeing that my once-thought "fatal crack" in her philosophy was not as it appeared. (Short form: It's acceptable to put a child or other above yourself so long as that's consistent with your values -- then it's not a sacrifice.) ( )

A libertarian friend says Rand has good ideas but writes badly,. I find her the reverse: she writes well but has impractical ideas. ( )

The Virtue of Selfishness (1964) presents a collection of nineteen essays on Objectivism by both Ayn Rand and Nathaniel Branden. ...noted, along with a selection of Ayn Rand's other non-fiction works, as containing the fundamentals of her philosophy. ( )