If you don’t have some fancy investment in mind, what did you want to meet me for?” “In order to become acquainted with you.” “That’s not an answer. It’s just another way of saying the same thing.” “Not quite, Mr. Rearden.” “Unless you mean—in order to gain my confidence?” “No. I don’t like people who speak or think in terms of gaining anybody’s confidence. If one’s actions are honest, one does not need the predated confidence of others, only their rational perception. The person who craves a moral blank check of that kind, has dishonest intentions, whether he admits it to himself or not.”
