New York, New York

“I would give the greatest sunset in the world for one sight of New
York’s skyline. Particularly when one can’t see the details. Just the
shapes. The shapes and the thought that made them. The sky over New York
and the will of man made visible. What other religion do we need? And
then people tell me about pilgrimages to some dank pesthole in a jungle
where they go to do homage to a crumbling temple, to a leering stone
monster with a pot belly, created by some leprous savage. Is it beauty
and genius they want to see? Do they seek a sense of the sublime? Let
them come to New York, stand on the shore of the Hudson, look and kneel.
When I see the city from my window - no, I don’t feel how small I am -
but I feel that if a war came to threaten this, I would throw myself
into space, over the city, and protect these buildings with my body.”

- Ayn Rand, “The Fountainhead”