An aggregation of things that I fancy
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#Montréal #LA #Travel #excitement #yes #yes yes yes
Five days!!
Until vacation! Six days in LA for a wedding, then onto ma ville préférée: Montréal!
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#Musings
Excellence
My great love of literature is no secret, and I rarely laud an excerpt or quote from a piece I haven’t fully digested. Yet, as with all rules, we make our exceptions. Aristotle wrote “we are what we repeatedly do. Excellent, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.” and it has been peeking its feisty little self in and out of my periphery for some days.
Fully believing in the concept of a “self-made man,” determining one’s destiny and what have you, has long been a fixture in my thinking, and speaking to this concept weighs on me. Building an identity, cultivating your interests and who you strive to be is not some passive process, and I think those who might claim it as such embody laziness and ignorance. I find myself captivated by myriad pursuits and ideas, a constant detraction from drive and ambition by dispersing focus. Dwelling on the words of this celebrated Greek philosopher have provided a pivotal focus in determining what I want, consciously examining myself and matching that to what I seek to build for myself.
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#and it works both ways
The man who is proudly certain of his own value, will want the highest type of woman he can find, the woman he admires…because only the possession of a heroine will give him the sense of achievement, not the possession of a brainless slut….He does not seek to gain his value, he seeks to express it.
— Ayn Rand
(Source: notquiteblondearewe)
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#econ #finals #if anyone gets this I adore you more than I have words to express said adoration
Presentation
While prepping for my econ final in public policy via google hangout (which is marvelous for simultaneously editing documents and web camera interaction) we had a running joke about monopolistic Jesus.
He produces where marginal revenue = marginal cost = price.
After our [by far and away ass-kicking] lecture, Michael turns to me and says “wait…that’s not monopoly Jesus, that is perfect competition Jesus, Natalie”
Professor : Is this relevant to RTAs?
Michael : Not exactly…
Me: Unless you wanted to examine tariff elimination from RTAs and the subsequent effect on production…
Michael: …and that’s why we need need perfect competition Jesus!
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#Ayn Rand #sex #reflect
Love is blind, they say; sex is impervious to reason and mocks the power of all philosophers. But, in fact, a person’s sexual choice is the result and sum of their fundamental convictions. Tell me what a person finds sexually attractive and I will tell you their entire philosophy of life. Show me the person they sleep with and I will tell you their evaluation of themselves. No matter what corruption they’re taught about the virtue of selflessness, sex is the most profoundly selfish of all acts, an act which they cannot perform for any motive but their own enjoyment - just try to think of performing it in a spirit of selfless charity! - an act which is not possible in self-abasement, only in self-exultation, only on the confidence of being desired and being worthy of desire. It is an act that forces them to stand naked in spirit, as well as in body, and accept their real ego as their standard of value. They will always be attracted to the person who reflects their deepest vision of themselves, the person whose surrender permits them to experience - or to fake - a sense of self-esteem .. Love is our response to our highest values - and can be nothing else.
— Ayn Rand
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#Fitzgerald #lit
That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.
— F. Scott Fitzgerald
(Source: 70books, via notasirememberit)
