The Tao of Roark

by Peter Saint-Andre

Chapter 5: Meaning


Previous: Chapter 4: Reason


Howard Roark and Gail Wynand walked together at the crest of a hill on Wynand's estate in Connecticut. Roark tore a thick branch from one of the trees, grabbed both ends, and bent it slowly into an arc. And he said: "Now I can make what I want of it: a bow, a spear, a cane, a railing. That is the meaning of life."

Wynand, seeing Roark's wrists and knuckles tensed tightly against the resistance of the living green wood, recognized immediately the meaning of his own life. So he asked: "Your strength?"

But strength and power were not the meaning of life for Roark, whose singular focus was to create uniquely original and integrated buildings that would change the shape of things on this earth, for himself and for no one else. Thus he answered: "Your work."


Next: Chapter 6: The Soul


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