Is Page Rank Impossible?

Is Page Rank impossible? I don't think so. I think that many people get too wrapped up in putting advertising all over their web pages in the belief that 'if you build it they will come' will actually work. That worked in Field of Dreams and that's not the Internet! I built a web page almost completely free of advertising and it's the highest ranking site I own. I speak my mind on issues and talk about things I believe to be relevant in the world today and I comment on other peoples blogs as well. I found that if I got my sites listed in web directories that helped even more as the site got circulated to a larger audience. I just didn't try to rank it, it just happened. The site I thought would have grown in rank and status with all its' ads and banners just got dusty and wouldn't get repeat visitors. I looked at my sites as a visitor and saw what was wrong and I fixed it. I slashed the ads, kept friends links and information links, simplifies the visuals from flash to modest and now it works. Nobody wants to wait for a site to load a ton of ads and special effects, especially me.