Atlas Shrugged Language and Communication Quotes Page 2

Page (2 of 4) Quotes: 1 2 3 4

How we cite the quotes:
Citations follow this format: (Volume.Chapter.Section.Page). We used the 50th Anniversary Edition published by Signet Books in 2007.

Quote #4

He approached, stopped, looked at her and smiled.

"Hello, Dagny," he said.

In a single shock of emotion, she knew everything the two words were intended to tell her. It was forgiveness, understanding, acknowledgment. It was a salute. (1.7.1.34-6)

Members of Galt's crowd tend to say what they think, but they also communicate nonverbally. How is their nonverbal communication different from the nonverbal communication and body language of the looters?

Quote #5

"Do you want us to quote all the things you said?"

"I hope I may trust you to be sure and quote them. Would you oblige me by taking this down verbatim? She paused to see their pencils ready, then dictated: 'Miss Taggart says – quote – I expect to make a pile of money on the John Galt Line. I will have earned it. Close quote. Thank you so much." (1.8.5.32-33)

Dagny doesn't often get to be this funny, so this scene is memorable. She mocks the reporters by throwing the words they use to insult her back in their faces.

Quote #6

Orren Boyle and Bertram Scudder were men who used words as a public instrument, to be avoided in the privacy of one's own mind. Words were a commitment, carrying implications which they did not wish to face. (2.2.4.6)

Words are part of the looters' avoidance tactics. They conceal the looters' true purposes not only from others but from themselves.

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