Altruism

"It’s amusing, Howard, to see you in the role of an altruist."

"You don’t have to insult me. It’s not altruism. But I’ll tell you this: most people say they’re concerned with the suffering of others. I’m not. And yet there’s one thing I can’t understand. Most of them would not pass by if they saw a man bleeding in the road, mangled by a hit-and-run driver. And most of them would not turn their heads to look at Steven Mallory. But don’t they know that if suffering could be measured, there’s no suffering in Steven Mallory when he can’t do the work he wants to do, than in a whole field of victims mowed down by a tank? If one must relieve the pain of this world, isn’t Mallory the place to begin?...However, that’s not why I’m doing it." - The Fountainhead

And i see myself getting hit by a fierce wave of tremor, and then these words echo in my mind - "... However, that's not why I'm doing it."

* In the whole of the 1 chapter of this story, Howard seemed like a person very close to being an anti altruist but not exactly that. As i read the story further, something strange hits my mind quite frequently, i cant explain the feeling, but from what i understand, Howard is an altruist in a very very different way. And he's selfish too, in a very very diffrent way. His defination of Altruism and Selfishness is so different! He's the most selfish altruist that i've seen in any of the novels or in person! (Nope, he doesnt care about fame or money - neither selfish nor an altruist in that way)

Shruti