We the living

"Why are you doing this for me?"
"Because I trust you and I think we are friends. Though don't ask me why we are, because I don't know myself."
"I know that. It's because... you see, if we had souls, which we haven't, and if our souls met - yours and mine - they'd fight to the death. But after they had torn each other to pieces, to the very bottom, they'd see that they had the same root. I don't know if you can understand it, because, you see, I don't believe in souls."
"I don't either. But I understand. And what is the root?"
"Do you believe in God, Andrei?"
"No."
"Neither do I. But that's a favourite question of mine. An upside down question, you know."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if I asked people whether they believed in life, they'd never understand what I meant. It`s a bad question. It can mean so much that it really means nothing. So I ask them if they believe in God. And if they say they do - then, I know they don't believe in life."
"Why?"
"Because, you see, God - whatever anyone chooses to call God - is one`s highest conception of the highest possible. And whoever places his highest conception above his own possibility thinks very little of himself and his life. It's a rare gift, you know, to feel reverence for your own life and to want the best, the greatest, the highest possible, here, now, for your very own. To imagine a heaven and then not to dream of it, but to demand it."
"You're a strange girl."
"You see, you and I, we believe in life. But you want to fight for it, to kill for it, even to die - for life. I only want to live it."

(dis deur Ayn Rand.)