MARINA DEL REY, CALIF.--Americans are taught from infancy that love is blind, opposites attract and a lover should be loved for their faults and not their virtues. By accepting these flawed ideas, Americans make it impossible to have happy, healthy and successful love relationships, said an Ayn Rand Institute senior writer.
"Love is not self-sacrifice, but the most profound assertion of your needs and values," said Andrew Bernstein. "Love is a selfish emotion and Valentine's Day should be viewed as a properly selfish holiday because love is a reflection of your self-esteem and self-worth."
Bernstein noted that for a love relationship to work men and women should understand that: --Both partners must possess self-esteem. --Self-esteem is self-generated and self-earned, not something given to you by your partner. --Passion in love and a passion for one's work are linked.
"Ayn Rand, who was a passionate value seeker, saw love as rooted in reason; a product of your mind, not your heart," said Bernstein. "But what makes her views on love so revolutionary is the fact that she extolled the integration of the spiritual and the physical aspects of love--namely sex. She believed that sex was a rationally selfish, moral act. She denounced promiscuous sex as immoral--because sex is too good and too important to be taken lightly.
"So on this Valentine's Day celebrate your romantic relationship, but also remember to celebrate yourself and the self-esteem that makes it possible for you to love and be loved."
Ayn Rand Institute senior writer Andrew Bernstein is available for interviews.
Founded in 1985, the Ayn Rand Institute promotes the philosophy of Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Visit the Institute's Web site at www.aynrand.org.
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