Howard Roark Quotes

In Ayn Rand’s writings, the character of Howard Roark in The Fountainhead represented her first complete presentation of a moral ideal. In this novel, Howard Roark was more than an architect who formulated his own style; he was the epitome of objectivism.

To give insight to this ideal, it is imperative to know that objectivism, founded by Ayn Rand herself, is the philosophy that a human being’s happiness is the only real purpose in life. The heroes that Ayn Rand created upheld the value that it is necessary to give up certain aspects of life to truly gain happiness. In The Fountainhead, Howard Roark approached life in a different way than the other characters. Unlike Keating, for instance, who only cared about what others thought about

These traits are regarded to Ayn Rand as the ideal for a human being because following your dreams takes courage in facing certain obstacles and difficulties. In order to face obstacles, it is necessary to be unwavering in any decision that will affect the outcome of life and the pursuit of happiness. An example of Roark’s directness was when Ellsworth Toohey taunted him and asked how Roark thinks of him now, and Roark simply replied that he doesn’t think of him at all. Instead of fighting fire with fire, Howard Roark was direct with him and generally showed Toohey that nothing, not even being sued and going into financial ruin, can crush his purpose in life. Throughout The Fountainhead, Roark conveyed his creative and unwavering personality, yet one event in the novel truly represented Roark and his morals. When the Dean of the Stanton Institute of Technology commented on Roark’s last major project and stated that it didn’t conform to the classical styles of the past, Howard Roark argued that the maker of the building give it a soul and every wall, window and stairway to express it. He also argued that no two buildings should every look the

I think that Roark’s approach on life and others as passive can be considered negative and should not be emulated by others. If people just went with the flow in life and did not react to any situation of obstacle that they faced, they would not get anywhere in life. Also, it is important in some circumstances for a person to take into account of how other people, especially those who are close to the particular person, view them. Sometimes, it takes the observation of one person to point out the other person’s flaws so that person can improve themselves, and consequently, improve the lives of others. Roark’s trait of being narrow minded should not be followed by others. Roark only viewed his style as the right way to build a building, not the classical and traditional styles of others. It is never good to be narrow minded because that shuts off a whole new world of perspectives that can positively affect one’s life. Keeping an open mind in times of difficult lead to the problem being solved quicker and easier.

Howard Roark in the book, The Fountainhead, was Ayn Rand’s first complete presentation of a moral ideal for human beings to follow. Howard Roark was not just an unwavering character who upheld the value of individualism; he symbolized the principle of