According to John Galt, selfishness is both moral and practical.

Explain what he means by this and how events of the story illustrate and dramatize his point.
To redeem both man and morality, it is the concept of selfishness that one has to redeem. The first step is to assert mans right to a moral existencethat is: to recognize his need of a moral code to guide the course and the fulfillment of his own life . . . . The reasons why man needs a moral code will tell you that the purpose of morality is to define mans proper values and interests, that concern with his own interests is the essence of a moral existence, and that man must be the beneficiary of his own moral actions. Since all values have to be gained and/or kept by mens actions, any breach between actor and beneficiary necessitates an injustice: the sacrifice of some men to others, of the actors to the nonactors, of the moral to the immoral. Nothing could ever justify such a breach, and no one ever has. The choice of the beneficiary of moral values is merely a preliminary or introductory issue in the field of morality. It is not a substitute for morality nor a criterion of moral value, as altruism has made it. Neither is it a moral primary: it has to be derived from and validated by the fundamental premises of a moral system. The Objectivist ethics holds that the actor must always be the beneficiary of his action and that man must act for his own rational self-interest. But his right to do so is derived from his nature as man and from the function of moral values in human lifeand, therefore, is applicable only in the context of a rational, objectively demonstrated and validated code of moral principles which define and determine his actual self-interest. It is not a license to do as he pleases and it is not applicable to the altruists image of a selfish brute nor to any man motivated by irrational emotions, feelings, urges, wishes or whims. This is said as a warning against the kind of Nietzschean egoists who, in fact, are a product of the altruist morality and represent the other side of the altruist coin: the men who believe that any action, regardless of its nature, is good if it is intended for ones own benefit. Just as the satisfaction of the irrational desires of others is not a criterion of moral value, neither is the satisfaction of ones own irrational desires. Morality is not a contest of whims . . . . A similar type of error is committed by the man who declares that since man must be guided by his own independent judgment, any action he chooses to take is moral if he chooses it. Ones own independent judgment is the means by which one must choose ones actions, but it is not a moral criterion nor a moral validation: only reference to a demonstrable principle can validate ones choices. Just as man cannot survive by any random means, but must discover and practice the principles which his survival requires, so mans self-interest cannot be determined by blind desires or random whims, but must be discovered and achieved by the guidance of rational principles. This is why the Objectivist ethics is a morality of rational self-interestor of rational selfishness Since selfishness is concern with ones own interests, the Objectivist ethics uses that concept in its exact and purest sense. It is not a concept that one can surrender to mans enemies, nor to the unthinking misconceptions, distortions, prejudices and fears of the ignorant and the irrational. The attack on selfishness is an attack on mans self-esteem; to surrender one, is to surrender the other.Selfishness denotes the precedence given in thought or deed to the self, such as self

interest or self concern. It is the act of placing one's own needs or desires above the needs or desires of others. On the other hand, selflessness is acting with less concern for yourself than for the success of the joint activity. Howard Roark refuses a major contract when he most needs it, claiming that his action was the most selfish thing youve ever seen a man do.Roark's firsthanded method is also the principle that explains his integrity. Integrity, according to Ayn Rand, is commitment in action to one's own best thinking, to one's own mind. It is to practice what you preach, in other words virtue, meaning that it is the principle that you must put into practical action the ideas you hold. But first, of course, you must hold ideas. Integrity requires a man to be a thinker. Howard Roark meets both of these requirements. He is a brilliant thinker and he acts on his thinking. He is not a hypocrite. Further, Roark is a selfish man, in the positive sense that Ayn Rand means this. He is true to his values, to his convictions, to his thinking, to his mind, to his self. When the board of the Manhattan Bank Building wants to alter his design, Roark rejects the proposal for the new design, calling his behavior "the most selfish thing you've ever seen a man do." Despite being destitute, he gives up a lucrative, publicity-generating commission in order to stand by the integrity of his design and he calls this selfish. To be true to his self, a man must first have a self. He must think independently, he must judge, he must form values and he must act in pursuit of those values. He must never sacrifice them. This is exactly what Roark does. The integrity of his design is far more important to him than the money or recognition that will accrue from the commission. In remaining true to his values and judgment, Roark is true to the deepest core of his self. This is selfishness in its highest and best sense.In other people's eyes, especially, the board of the Manhattan Bank Building, Roark is seen as a selfless man. An illustration of this theme is the case of the Manhattan Bank Building. The board hires Roark to design the building and then ruins his plan by adding a Classic motif. As the chairman of the board explains: "In this way, though it's not traditional architecture of course, it will give the public the impression of what they're accustomed to." Roark tries to explain "why an honest building, like an honest man, had to be of one piece and one faith; what constituted the life source, the idea in any existing thing or creature, and why, if one smallest part committed treason to that idea, the thing or the creature was dead; and why the good, the high and the noble on earth was only that which kept its integrity." The chairman replies, "There's no answer to what you're saying. But unfortunately, in practical life, one can't always be so flawlessly consistent." Morality to Roark is practical. To the chairman, practicality requires one to compromise one's standards to be popular with others. Roark refuses to change his design, on moral grounds, and loses the job. It is this point that eloquently explains the personality of people that call Roark selfless and also shows what it means to be selfish in their term through words conveyed.An important moral question that Ayn Rand seeks to answer in Roark's character concerns the relationship between the moral and the practical. Many people in real life, as well as Gail Wynand and Dominique Francon in the novel, believe that practical success requires a betrayal of an individual's moral principles. It is often said that to succeed one must play the game, or conform to the practices of one's company or profession even if one finds them unethical. To hold to one's scruples, according to this way of thinking, results only in loss of job or income, in a failure of some form. But in The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand builds a convincing argument that this cynical view is false. Howard Roark, she shows, is both a moral man and a practical man. His strength of character is demonstrated throughout the story. He is fully committed to the artistic integrity of every one of his designs, and he takes a laborer's job in a granite quarry rather than compromise on the smallest detail of his building. Integrity means conscientious commitment, in action, to the principles held by your own mind and Roark exemplifies this

virtue consistently, including when faced with destitution. Further, he is also a practical man. Roark, above all other characters in the novel, is a can-do giant of supreme competence. He excels at every aspect of building, from design to construction, and by the novel's end, he has achieved a significant commercial success.