"The necessary consequence of man's right to life……" — Ayn Rand
"The necessary consequence of man's right to life is his right to self-defense. In a civilized society, force may be used only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use. All the reasons which make the initiation of physical force an evil, make the retaliatory use of physical force a moral imperative. If some "pacifist" society renounced the retaliatory use of force, it would be left helplessly at the mercy of the first thug who decided to be immoral. Such a society would achieve the opposite of its intention: instead of abolishing evil, it would encourage and reward it."
—
Ayn Rand
★
★
★
★
★
0.0 avg (0 ratings)
838 Quotes by Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand has 838 quotes on this site.
A few more worth reading:
-
You must be the kind of man who can get things done. But to get things done, you must love…
-
The doctrine that 'human rights' are superior to 'property rights' simply means that some human beings have the right to…
-
I hold that such a question can never arise except in a society of cannibals.
-
Since there is no such entity as 'the public,' since the public is merely a number of individuals, the idea…
-
Creation comes before distribution - or there will be nothing to distribute. The need of the creator comes before the…
-
The government was set to protect man from criminals, and the Constitution was written to protect man from the government.
-
If you tell an ugly woman that she is beautiful, you offer her the great homage of corrupting the concept…
-
Even if smog were a risk to human life, we must remember that life in nature, without technology, is wholesale…
-
Statism needs war; a free country does not. Statism survives by looting; a free country survives by producing.
-
This is the age othe common man, they tell us-a title which any man may claim to the extent osuch…
-
Love is an expression and assertion of self-esteem, a response to one's own values in the person of another. One…
-
Why is it immoral for you to desire, but moral for others to do so? Why is it immoral to…
See all 838 quotes by Ayn Rand »
More Abolishing Quotes
This quote is filed under Abolishing Quotes,
one of 40 quotes in that category. Here are a few more:
-
I am for socialism, disarmament, and, ultimately, for abolishing the state itself... I seek the social ownership of property, the…
— Roger Nash Baldwin
-
If men do not now succeed in abolishing war, civilization and mankind are doomed.
— Ludwig von Mises
-
Don't try to be unafraid. That is impossible. Rather, go ahead while being afraid. That is the entire secret for…
— Vernon Howard
-
The present struggle seems less about abolishing big government than about who gets to use it.
— William Greider
-
People who object to weapons aren't abolishing violence, they're begging for rule by brute force, when the biggest, strongest animals…
— L. Neil Smith
-
Conscription is an impediment to achieving the forces Australia needs. It is an alibi for failing to give proper conditions…
— Gough Whitlam
-
By abolishing private property one takes away the human love of aggression.
— Sigmund Freud
-
...The goal of abolishing the white race is on its face so desirable that some may find it hard to…
— Noel Ignatiev
-
He [Jesus] fought and conquered. On the one hand, he was man who struggled for his fathers and through his…
— Irenaeus of Lyons
-
Sculpture and painting have the effect of teaching us manners and abolishing hurry.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
-
Though we have clear and full scriptures in the New Testament for abolishing the Ceremonial law, yet we nowhere read…
— George Gillespie
-
Written in support of abolishing the Corn Laws, it became Elliott's most famous poem. The Peoples Anthem When wilt thou…
— Ebenezer Elliott
See all 40 Abolishing Quotes »