--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's as if they'd heard that there are…" description: "\"“It's as if they'd heard that there are values one is supposed to honor and this is what one does to honor them -- so they went through the motions, li..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b9/ayn-rand-59_ghosts_it-s-as-if-they-d-heard-that-there-are-v_831362.jpg" --- # It's as if they'd heard that there are values one is… ![“It's as if they'd heard that there are values one is supposed to honor and this is what one does to honor them -- so they went through the motions, like ghosts pulled by some sort of distant echoes from a better age.” quote by Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b9/ayn-rand-59_ghosts_it-s-as-if-they-d-heard-that-there-are-v_831362.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b9/ayn-rand-59_ghosts_it-s-as-if-they-d-heard-that-there-are-v_831362.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b9/ayn-rand-59_ghosts_it-s-as-if-they-d-heard-that-there-are-v_831362.jpg) > ““It's as if they'd heard that there are values one is supposed to honor and this is what one does to honor them -- so they went through the motions, like ghosts pulled by some sort of distant echoes from a better age.”” [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often perform rituals without understanding their deeper values, becoming hollow echoes of past ideals. **In simple terms:** Empty gestures lack true meaning. Key Takeaway Seek authentic alignment with values. Themes authenticity tradition meaning Mood critical reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - corporate culture - political movements - personal rituals Key Concepts existentialism cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - What values truly guide you? - How can you revive genuine purpose? A Different Perspective Blind conformity can erode individuality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ghosts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghosts/) [Ghosts Pulled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghosts-pulled-561563/) [Like Ghosts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-ghosts-291017/) [Supposed Honor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supposed-honor-561562/) [Values Supposed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values-supposed-561564/) ## Related quotes > [The kind of values for which I was supposed to kill, such as democracy and national independence, were better served, I thought, through non-violent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torbjorn-tannsjo/the-kind-of-values-for-which-i-was-supposed-to-kill-such-as-democracy/) [Torbjorn Tannsjo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torbjorn-tannsjo/) > [But if you believe in Christ and that your main goal with your life is supposed to be to honor Him and do His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-jackson/but-if-you-believe-in-christ-and-that-your-main-goal-with-your-life/) [Victoria Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-jackson/) > [“What is so often said about the solders of the 20th century is that they fought to make us free. Which is a wonderful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/what-is-so-often-said-about-the-solders-of-the-20th-century-is-that/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [True love is like ghosts... everybody talks about it... but few has seen it..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/true-love-is-like-ghosts-everybody-talks-about-it-but-few-has-seen-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [True love is like ghosts; which everybody talks about and just few have seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nessanicolee/true-love-is-like-ghosts-which-everybody-talks-about-and-just-few/) [NessaNicolee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nessanicolee/) > [True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/true-love-is-like-ghosts-which-everyone-talks-about-and-few-have-seen/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [Upon the clothes behind the tenement, That hang like ghosts suspended from the lines, Linking each flat, but to each indifferent, Incongruous and strange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-mckay/upon-the-clothes-behind-the-tenement-that-hang-like-ghosts-suspended/) [Claude McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-mckay/) > [I like everything that has to do with ghosts. If I see it, I'm all over it. We all have our thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brannagh/i-like-everything-that-has-to-do-with-ghosts-if-i-see-it-i-m-all-over/) [Brigid Brannagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brannagh/) > [I like ghosts. I like friends. I like couplets. I like the idea of a mission.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dara-wier/i-like-ghosts-i-like-friends-i-like-couplets-i-like-the-idea-of-a/) [Dara Wier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dara-wier/) > [Oh, give us pleasure in the orch-ard white, Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/oh-give-us-pleasure-in-the-orch-ard-white-like-nothing-else-by-day/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [True love is like ghosts,which everybody talks about,but few have seen..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/true-love-is-like-ghosts-which-everybody-talks-about-but-few-have-seen/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Like other ghosts, she whispers; not for me to join her, but so that, when I'm close enough, she can push me back into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-michaels/like-other-ghosts-she-whispers-not-for-me-to-join-her-but-so-that/) [Anne Michaels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-michaels/) > [“True love is like ghosts which many believe in, but few have seen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/true-love-is-like-ghosts-which-many-believe-in-but-few-have-seen/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It was always late at night, when everything and everyone else was quiet, that those voices would rise like ghosts, soft and haunting, filling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/it-was-always-late-at-night-when-everything-and-everyone-else-was/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [We stood up and bade each other farewell, but love and despair stood between us like two ghosts, one stretching his wings with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/we-stood-up-and-bade-each-other-farewell-but-love-and-despair-stood/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) ## More by Ayn Rand > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [She watched the prairies the rivers, the towns slipping past at an untouchable distance below - and she noted that the sense of detachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-watched-the-prairies-the-rivers-the-towns-slipping-past-at-an/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“This was reality, she thought, this sense of clear outlines, of purpose, of lightness, of hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-was-reality-she-thought-this-sense-of-clear-outlines-of-purpose/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/lobbying-is-the-activity-of-attempting-to-influence-legislation-by/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She moved her hand and let it rest against his. He did not withdraw his fingers and he did not pretend indifference. She bent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-moved-her-hand-and-let-it-rest-against-his-he-did-not-withdraw/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [This miracle of me is mine to own and keep, and mine to guard, and mine to use, and mine to kneel before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-miracle-of-me-is-mine-to-own-and-keep-and-mine-to-guard-and-mine/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“There was still one response, the greatest, that she had missed. She thought: To find a feeling that would hold, as their sum, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-was-still-one-response-the-greatest-that-she-had-missed-she/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Inflation is not caused by the actions of private citizens, but by the government: by an artificial expansion of the money supply required to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/inflation-is-not-caused-by-the-actions-of-private-citizens-but-by-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“We are fornicating in the sight of six billion people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-fornicating-in-the-sight-of-six-billion-people/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She was fifteen when it occurred to her for the first time that women did not run railroads and that people might object. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-was-fifteen-when-it-occurred-to-her-for-the-first-time-that-women/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Fransisco, you're some kind of very high nobility, aren't you?" He answered, "Not yet. The reason my family has lasted for such a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/fransisco-you-re-some-kind-of-very-high-nobility-aren-t-you-he/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/have-you-felt-it-too-have-you-seen-how-your-best-friends-love/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Every coercive monopoly was created by government intervention into the economy: by special privileges, such as franchises or subsidies, which closed the entry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/every-coercive-monopoly-was-created-by-government-intervention-into/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [We are all brothers under the skin - and I, for one, would be willing to skin humanity to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-all-brothers-under-the-skin-and-i-for-one-would-be-willing-to/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) [Explore all 1,777 Ayn Rand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## More Ghosts quotes > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [“This was going to be worse than the time I table danced in the diner in high school!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-bryson/this-was-going-to-be-worse-than-the-time-i-table-danced-in-the-diner/) [Kathy Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-bryson/) > [Nice is a city of ghosts and specters, but I hope not to become one of them right away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-modiano/nice-is-a-city-of-ghosts-and-specters-but-i-hope-not-to-become-one-of/) [Patrick Modiano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-modiano/) > [“One person's strange is another person's normal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dani-harper/one-person-s-strange-is-another-person-s-normal/) [Dani Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dani-harper/) > [“All right, you deadly little ghostlings,” I muttered. “Mama says go back to bed! - Cat”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/all-right-you-deadly-little-ghostlings-i-muttered-mama-says-go-back/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) > [“Most people would probably call me a ghost. I am, after all, dead. But I don't think of myself that way. It wasn't so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-pike/most-people-would-probably-call-me-a-ghost-i-am-after-all-dead-but-i/) [Christopher Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-pike/) > [“A memory that costs you something," he said aloud, almost to himself. "One that hurts to remember. That makes you regret what you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daria-lavelle/a-memory-that-costs-you-something-he-said-aloud-almost-to-himself-one/) [Daria Lavelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daria-lavelle/) > [“I am made of a thousand ghosts. Only you can shoot me down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-james/i-am-made-of-a-thousand-ghosts-only-you-can-shoot-me-down/) [Bella James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bella-james/) > [Many memories were long forgotten, and many became ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blackmore-s-night/many-memories-were-long-forgotten-and-many-became-ghosts/) [Blackmore's Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blackmore-s-night/) > [Do I believe in ghosts?...I am prepared to consider evidence and accept it if it satisfies me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-r-james/do-i-believe-in-ghosts-i-am-prepared-to-consider-evidence-and-accept/) [M. R. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-r-james/) > [“Before her escort could react, she sprinted out from their little pool of lantern-light into the darkness, her feet pounding the soft, treacherous clods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-hardinge/before-her-escort-could-react-she-sprinted-out-from-their-little-pool/) [Frances Hardinge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-hardinge/) > [“I assure you; while I look like a ghost, I'm no spirit or demon. I'm nothing but a girl struggling to make her way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leanna-renee-hieber/i-assure-you-while-i-look-like-a-ghost-i-m-no-spirit-or-demon-i-m/) [Leanna Renee Hieber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leanna-renee-hieber/) > [They call them the haunted shores, these stretches of Devonshire and Cornwall and Ireland which rear up against the westward ocean. Mists gather here,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/they-call-them-the-haunted-shores-these-stretches-of-devonshire-and/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [I think I do believe in the afterlife; I have heard stories from people who I can completely trust that have seen ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saoirse-ronan/i-think-i-do-believe-in-the-afterlife-i-have-heard-stories-from/) [Saoirse Ronan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saoirse-ronan/) > [“The banana flavour of his accidental conception, and the banana theme of his accidental death, now all seemed to conspire against him and rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-conrad/the-banana-flavour-of-his-accidental-conception-and-the-banana-theme/) [Tom Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-conrad/) [Browse all 1,103 Ghosts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghosts/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It's as if they'd heard that there are values one is supposed to honor and this is what one does to honor them -- so they went through the motions, like ghosts pulled by some sort of distant echoes from a better age.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ayn Rand" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/it-s-as-if-they-d-heard-that-there-are-values-one-is-supposed-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ghosts" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/it-s-as-if-they-d-heard-that-there-are-values-one-is-supposed-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b9/ayn-rand-59_ghosts_it-s-as-if-they-d-heard-that-there-are-v_831362.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b9/ayn-rand-59_ghosts_it-s-as-if-they-d-heard-that-there-are-v_831362.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b9/ayn-rand-59_ghosts_it-s-as-if-they-d-heard-that-there-are-v_831362.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's as if they'd heard that there are values one is supposed to honor and this is what one does to honor…” — Ayn Rand", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ayn Rand", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It's as if they'd heard that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/it-s-as-if-they-d-heard-that-there-are-values-one-is-supposed-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/it-s-as-if-they-d-heard-that-there-are-values-one-is-supposed-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```