It's been more than 10 years since I read Atlas Shrugged, but what is often interpreted as disdain or arrogance in the characters, I took to be Arete. That is,

It's been more than 10 years since I read Atlas Shrugged, but what is often interpreted as disdain or arrogance in the characters, I took to be Arete. That is, the characters sought excellence in themselves and appreciated it in others, while holding those who were leeches on their achievements with disdain. I didn't read Atlas Shrugged as disdainful toward the common man (IE: those of us somewhere beneath excellence) but rather a kind of call to pursue perfection and greatness in whatever you might do.