In a signature scene, Galt tells Dagny — the woman he has loved and watched for years — what he did and felt upon learning that she was Hank Rearden's mistress. He went to observe Rearden at an industrialists' conference. Rearden had everything that Galt wanted and could have had if he hadn't chosen to strike. Rearden had his mills, his invention, his wealth, his fame, and his love relationship with Dagny. For one moment, Galt felt a tearing sense of loss. He saw what would have been his if he hadn't abandoned his motor. But Galt felt that loss for only a moment, because he then recognized the full set of facts defining the situation. He saw the burdens that Rearden carried, the impossible demands, and the forces stifling and enslaving him. He saw Rearden struggling in silent agony, striving to understand what Galt alone had understood. He saw Rearden for what he was — the symbol of the strike, the great unrewarded hero whom Galt was to liberate and validate. The scene that he describes to Dagny provides the key to understanding Galt's character. He feels intense emotion and suffers when he experiences loss, but he doesn't permit his emotions to interfere with his cognitive grasp of reality or with his actions based on that cognition. He knows that the strike is right, and no pain resulting from its consequences can defile the purity of his cognition.
What makes Galt unique is his method of using his mind — his unflinching commitment to facts, even if they are unpleasant, painful, or frightening. He functions rationally, holding an undeviating allegiance to reality that his most honest judgment grasps. Galt's life embodies a proactive eagerness to seek out truth and an inviolable willingness to accept it, no matter its content. He recognizes that man can only achieve success and happiness by revering reality. He doesn't consider facing reality a duty or something that requires tight-lipped stoicism. Instead, he celebrates reality, joyously recognizing that consistent adherence to reality is at the core of self-interest. He knows that a willful departure from reality is the essence of self-destruction.
