Rand Rand - Anthem

At first, man was enslaved by the gods. But he broke their chains. note 432 Note 432 -The- note 434 Note 434 +Then+ he was enslaved by the kings. But he broke their chains. He was enslaved by his birth, by his kin, by his race. But he broke their chains. He declared to all his brothers that a man has rights which neither god nor king nor other men can take away from him, no matter what their number, for his is the right of man, and there is no right on earth above this right. And he stood on the threshold of note 433 Note 433 -the- freedom for which the blood of the centuries behind him had been spilled.

But then he gave up all he had won, and fell lower than his savage beginning.

What brought it to pass? What disaster took their reason away from men? What whip lashed them to their knees in shame and submission? The worship of the word "We."

When men accepted that worship, the structure note 442 Note 442 +of centuries collapsed about them, the structure+ whose every beam had come from the thought of some one man, each in his day down the ages, from the depth of some one spirit, such note 435 Note 435 -spirit- as note 443 Note 443 +spirit+ existed but for its own sake. Those men who note 436 Note 436 -survived- note 444 Note 444 +survived-+ those eager to obey, eager to live for one another, since they had nothing else to vindicate note 437 Note 437 -them-those- note 445 Note 445 +them– those+ men could neither carry on, nor preserve what they had received. Thus did all thought, all science, all wisdom perish on earth. Thus did note 438 Note 438 -men- note 446 Note 446 +men-+ men with nothing to offer save their great note 439 Note 439 -number– lost- note 447 Note 447 +numbers– lose+ the steel towers, the flying ships, the power wires, all the things they had not created and could never keep. Perhaps, later, some men had been born with the mind and the courage to recover these things which were lost; perhaps these men came before the Councils of Scholars. They note 440 Note 440 -were- answered as I have been note 441 Note 441 -answered- note 448 Note 448 +answered-+ and for the same reasons.

But I still wonder how it was possible, in those graceless years of transition, long ago, that men did not see whither they were going, and went on, in blindness and cowardice, to their fate. I wonder, for it is hard for me to conceive how men who knew the word note 449 Note 449 -"I"- note 450 Note 450 +"I,"+ could give it up and not know what they note 451 Note 451 +had+ lost. But such has been the story, for I have lived in the City of the damned, and I know what horror men permitted to be brought upon them.

Perhaps, in those days, there were a few among men, a few of clear sight and clean soul, who refused to surrender that word. What agony must have been theirs before that which they saw coming and could not stop! Perhaps they cried out in protest and in warning. But men paid no heed to their warning. And they, note 452 Note 452 -these- note 453 Note 453 +those+ few, fought a hopeless battle, and they perished with their banners smeared by their own blood. And they chose to perish, for they knew. To them, I send my salute across the centuries, and my pity.

note 454 Note 454 -Their-

note 455 Note 455 +Theirs+ is the banner in my hand. And I wish I had the power to tell them that the despair of their hearts was not to be final, and their night was not without hope. For the battle they lost can never be lost. For that which they died to save can never perish. Through all the darkness, through all the shame of which men are capable, the spirit of man will remain alive on this earth. It may sleep, but it will awaken. It may wear chains, but it will break through. And man will go on. Man, not men.

note 456 Note 456 -Here-

note 458 Note 458 +Here,+ on this mountain, I and my sons and my chosen friends shall build our new land and our fort. And it will become as the heart of the earth, lost and hidden at first, but beating, beating louder each day. And word of it will reach every corner of the earth. And the roads of the world will become as veins which will carry the best of the world's blood to my threshold. And all my brothers, and the Councils of my brothers, will hear of it, but they will be impotent against me. And the day will come when I shall break note 457 Note 457 -all- the chains of the earth, and raze the cities of the enslaved, and my home will become the capital of a world where each man will be free to exist for his own sake.

For the coming of that day note 459 Note 459 -shall- I note 460 Note 460 +shall+ fight, I and my sons and my chosen friends. For the freedom of Man. For his rights. For his life. For his honor.

And here, over the portals of my fort, I shall cut in the stone the word which is to be my beacon and my banner. The word which will not die, should we all perish in battle. The word which can never die on this earth, for it is the heart of it and the meaning and the glory.

The sacred word:

EGO End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Anthem, by Ayn Rand Anthem note 461 Note 461 another edition

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