Ayn Rand on hunger

This morning I was a bit hungry while waiting for lunch, and thought
of Susan's interesting post from the other day in which she pointed
out that we should get over being afraid of a bit of hunger -- that we
know the next meal is coming. This in turn made me think of something
I once read that made an impression on me, even though it was 40 years
ago back in high school. This quote is from Ayn Rand's Anthem:

"We stopped when we felt hunger. We saw birds in the tree branches,
and flying from under our footsteps. We picked a stone and we sent it
as an arrow at a bird. It fell before us. We made a fire, we cooked
the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us. And
we thought suddenly that there was a great satisfaction to be found in
the food which we need and obtain by our own hand. And we wished to be
hungry again and soon, that we might know again this strange new pride
in eating. "

Even back then -- probably like most Americans -- I ate for taste and
enjoyment more than to satisfy hunger, and this seemed like such a
novel view of eating -- that the hunger was a taken-for-granted
precondition to the act of eating and the enjoyment thereof. I can't
say it shaped my life after that (unfortunately :-) ), but I've always
remembered it.

Chris
262/152/ (145-150)

Chris Braun wrote:

This quote is from Ayn Rand's Anthem:

"We stopped when we felt hunger. We saw birds in the tree branches,
and flying from under our footsteps. We picked a stone and we sent it
as an arrow at a bird. It fell before us. We made a fire, we cooked
the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us. And
we thought suddenly that there was a great satisfaction to be found in
the food which we need and obtain by our own hand. And we wished to be
hungry again and soon, that we might know again this strange new pride
in eating. "

Even back then -- probably like most Americans -- I ate for taste and
enjoyment more than to satisfy hunger, and this seemed like such a
novel view of eating -- that the hunger was a taken-for-granted
precondition to the act of eating and the enjoyment thereof. I can't
say it shaped my life after that (unfortunately :-) ), but I've always
remembered it.

LOL, I certainly appreciate what you admired about her take on hunger,
but re-reading the Ayn Rand quote made me think the same thing I've
thought on re-reading all the rest of her quotes. How sophomoric! Her
philosophies seemed so wise and world-affirming when I was 20, but seem
so selfish and impractical when I'm 40!

Dally