" The key concept, in the formation of a sense of life, is the term ‘important’. It is a concept that belongs to the realm of values since it implies an answer to the question: Important – to whom?... It means ‘a quality, character or standing such as to entitle attention or consideration.’...

It is only those values which he regards or grows to regard as ‘important,’ those which represent his implicit view of reality that remain in a man’s subconscious and form his sense of life…

A sense of life represents a man’s early value-integrations, which remain in a fluid, plastic, easily amendable state, while he gathers knowledge to reach full conceptual control and thus to drive his inner mechanism. A full conceptual control means a consciously directed process of cognitive integration, which means: a conscious philosophy of life. "

― Ayn Rand , The Romantic Manifesto