(Spoilers below). As I got further through the book I liked it more and more, and the moment that stuck with me was Hank Rearden holding on, thinking he could

(Spoilers below). As I got further through the book I liked it more and more, and the moment that stuck with me was Hank Rearden holding on, thinking he could "fix" things by keeping his steel mill open and working harder than ever before. He had extremely altruistic motives, and was literally putting his life on the line to do what he thought was right to help others. A little while later when he finally gives in and sees things from the other side, he suddenly sees that he, in fact, was the problem, and not the solution at all. By prolonging the bad system he was making everything worse, despite giving his all to make things better. The harder he tried, the worse he made it. I've spent many, many hours thinking about this lesson, and how it applies to my own life and actions. Sometimes even when we try as hard as we can to do the right thing and make stuff better, we're actually making it worse. Sometimes giving up is the best way to make something better.