They say to know oneself is to know all there is that is human. But of course no one can ever know himself. Nothing human is finally calculable; even… - Gore Vidal

Nothing human is finally calculable; even to ourselves we are strange.

Miss Rand now tells us that what we have thought was right is really wrong. The lesson should have read: One for one and none for all.

I have never been an eavesdropper, even in childhood. Not from any sense of virtue but because I really do not want to know what people think of me or, to be precise, what they say of me - often a different matter. I can usually imagine the unpleasant judgements, for we are what others needs us to be. That is why our reputations change so often and so drastically, reflecting no particular change in us, merely a change in the mood of those who observe us.

How marvelous books are, crossing worlds and centuries, defeating ignorance and, finally, cruel time itself.