"I would have to think on a nice, clean job. I don't want to think. Not their way. It will have to be their way, no matter where I go."

These words were spoken by Howard Roark, the protagonist of Ayn Rand's 1943 best seller, The Fountainhead. The book is about an idealistic, misunderstood architect who clings to his integrity even though it costs him everything.

Roark realizes that a cushy office job will do violence to his soul.

Roark makes this statement to his friend and building partner, Mike Donnigan, after turning down a lucrative opportunity to build a bank building. Roark turned down the offer because the board of directors of the bank wanted to substantially change his blueprints, turning his building into something other than he intended. However, Roark? – ?Ayn Rand's "ideal, heroic man"? – ?is unwilling to compromise his standards for money, or anything else.

Financially, Roark really needed that commission. By this point in the story, he is getting almost no work. People won't hire him because his buildings are too "out there" (innovative). His bills are in arrears, and his architectural firm is at risk of going out of business. Yet Roark still refuses to compromise on his values.