--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Evil requires the sanction of the victim." description: "\"Evil requires the sanction of the victim.\" — Ayn Rand" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/ayn-rand-59_evil_evil-requires-the-sanction-of-the-victim_2794917.jpg" --- # Evil requires the sanction of the victim. ![“Evil requires the sanction of the victim.” quote by Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/ayn-rand-59_evil_evil-requires-the-sanction-of-the-victim_2794917.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/ayn-rand-59_evil_evil-requires-the-sanction-of-the-victim_2794917.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/ayn-rand-59_evil_evil-requires-the-sanction-of-the-victim_2794917.jpg) > “Evil requires the sanction of the victim.” [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Victims must consent for evil to occur; their approval enables wrongdoing. **In simple terms:** Evil needs victim’s consent. Key Takeaway Seek consent and agency. Themes ethics victimhood power responsibility Mood serious thoughtful Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - legal systems - personal relationships - media narratives Key Concepts consent agency moral autonomy Questions to Reflect On - What role does consent play in moral judgments? - How can we protect vulnerable individuals? A Different Perspective May ignore coercive pressures on victims. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Evil Requires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil-requires-790740/) [Requires Sanction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/requires-sanction-3405550/) [Sanction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sanction/) [Sanction Victim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sanction-victim-3405549/) [Victim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victim/) ## Related quotes > [I do not seek the good of others as a sanction for my right to exist, nor do I recognize the good of others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/i-do-not-seek-the-good-of-others-as-a-sanction-for-my-right-to-exist/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/to-discuss-evil-in-a-manner-implying-neutrality-is-to-sanction-it/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/i-need-no-warrant-for-being-and-no-word-of-sanction-upon-my-being-i/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Evil requires no reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/evil-requires-no-reason/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Justice can be achieved only if one has the pertinent facts, and excusing evil requires that those facts be obscured; justice is thus precluded.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-klepper/justice-can-be-achieved-only-if-one-has-the-pertinent-facts-and/) [Mike Klepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-klepper/) > [“For wicked people to do evil requires money, and good people superstition. Combining these elements gives us organized religion, but to achieve the worst…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-kamali/for-wicked-people-to-do-evil-requires-money-and-good-people-2/) [Sean Kamali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-kamali/) > [“For wicked people to do evil requires money, and good people superstition. Combining these elements and we get organized religion, but to achieve the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-s-kamali/for-wicked-people-to-do-evil-requires-money-and-good-people/) [Sean S Kamali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-s-kamali/) > [A national evil requires a national remedy; let not this any longer be delayed: let your minds expand, free from every narrow principle, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-lancaster/a-national-evil-requires-a-national-remedy-let-not-this-any-longer-be/) [Joseph Lancaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-lancaster/) > [“But opposing evil requires inspiration by what is sound rather than by what is resonant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/but-opposing-evil-requires-inspiration-by-what-is-sound-rather-than/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“All that evil requires is an absence of virtue, where somebody didn't make a stand.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-darlington/all-that-evil-requires-is-an-absence-of-virtue-where-somebody-didn-t/) [Terry Darlington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-darlington/) > [You create a work of art. You do not know whether it will get public sanction. Sometimes outstanding films do no business, and sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dev-anand/you-create-a-work-of-art-you-do-not-know-whether-it-will-get-public/) [Dev Anand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dev-anand/) > [If the person who can effectively sanction ill-conceived wars can play the electric guitar, which is a symbol of rebellion, then that whole worldview…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-coogan/if-the-person-who-can-effectively-sanction-ill-conceived-wars-can/) [Steve Coogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-coogan/) > [“one state commits an illegal act against another state, and refuses to make reparation or to appear before an international tribunal, there is (or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-state-commits-an-illegal-act-against-another-state-and-refuses-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Not taking the Bible (or other texts based on 'revealed truths') literally leaves it up to the reader to cherry-pick elements for belief. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tayler/not-taking-the-bible-or-other-texts-based-on-revealed-truths/) [Jeffrey Tayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tayler/) > [“There is no guilt greater than to sanction ambition;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/there-is-no-guilt-greater-than-to-sanction-ambition/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) ## More by Ayn Rand > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [She watched the prairies the rivers, the towns slipping past at an untouchable distance below - and she noted that the sense of detachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-watched-the-prairies-the-rivers-the-towns-slipping-past-at-an/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“This was reality, she thought, this sense of clear outlines, of purpose, of lightness, of hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-was-reality-she-thought-this-sense-of-clear-outlines-of-purpose/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/lobbying-is-the-activity-of-attempting-to-influence-legislation-by/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She moved her hand and let it rest against his. He did not withdraw his fingers and he did not pretend indifference. She bent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-moved-her-hand-and-let-it-rest-against-his-he-did-not-withdraw/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [This miracle of me is mine to own and keep, and mine to guard, and mine to use, and mine to kneel before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-miracle-of-me-is-mine-to-own-and-keep-and-mine-to-guard-and-mine/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“There was still one response, the greatest, that she had missed. She thought: To find a feeling that would hold, as their sum, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-was-still-one-response-the-greatest-that-she-had-missed-she/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Inflation is not caused by the actions of private citizens, but by the government: by an artificial expansion of the money supply required to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/inflation-is-not-caused-by-the-actions-of-private-citizens-but-by-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“We are fornicating in the sight of six billion people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-fornicating-in-the-sight-of-six-billion-people/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She was fifteen when it occurred to her for the first time that women did not run railroads and that people might object. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-was-fifteen-when-it-occurred-to-her-for-the-first-time-that-women/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Fransisco, you're some kind of very high nobility, aren't you?" He answered, "Not yet. The reason my family has lasted for such a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/fransisco-you-re-some-kind-of-very-high-nobility-aren-t-you-he/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/have-you-felt-it-too-have-you-seen-how-your-best-friends-love/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Every coercive monopoly was created by government intervention into the economy: by special privileges, such as franchises or subsidies, which closed the entry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/every-coercive-monopoly-was-created-by-government-intervention-into/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [We are all brothers under the skin - and I, for one, would be willing to skin humanity to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-all-brothers-under-the-skin-and-i-for-one-would-be-willing-to/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) [Explore all 1,777 Ayn Rand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## More Evil quotes > [I've always been fascinated by the idea that there's no such thing as evil; it's all in your point of view. To one group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-roth/i-ve-always-been-fascinated-by-the-idea-that-there-s-no-such-thing-as/) [Eli Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-roth/) > [If ever I did a man any goodof course it was something exceptional and insignificant compared with the good or evil which I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-ever-i-did-a-man-any-goodof-course-it-was-something-exceptional/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/every-action-that-helps-us-manifest-our-divine-nature-more-and-more/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [I do conscientiously and sincerely believe that the Order of Freemasonry, if not the greatest, is one of the greatest moral and political evils…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-quincy-adams/i-do-conscientiously-and-sincerely-believe-that-the-order-of/) [John Quincy Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-quincy-adams/) > [The Republicans do not look on the Democrats as the evil empire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-safire/the-republicans-do-not-look-on-the-democrats-as-the-evil-empire/) [William Safire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-safire/) > [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-done-out-of-love-always-takes-place-beyond-good-and-evil/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ Evil cannot be "treated" -- nor should it be. Evil has to \[be\] confronted and destroyed and it matters not why the evil is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-o-reilly/evil-cannot-be-treated-nor-should-it-be-evil-has-to-be-confronted-and/) [Bill O'Reilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-o-reilly/) > [The evil which does me no harm is like the good which in no wise avails me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/the-evil-which-does-me-no-harm-is-like-the-good-which-in-no-wise/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/attack-the-evil-that-is-within-yourself-rather-than-attacking-the/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nayler/there-is-a-spirit-which-i-feel-that-delights-to-do-no-evil-nor-to/) [James Nayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nayler/) > [The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-politician-attempts-to-remedy-the-evil-by-increasing-the-very/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [“Water is so friendly when you have it on your palms, but so evil when they have you on theirs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/water-is-so-friendly-when-you-have-it-on-your-palms-but-so-evil-when/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [THE ART OF PEACE is not easy. It is a fight to the finish, the slaying of evil desires and all falsehood within. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morihei-ueshiba/the-art-of-peace-is-not-easy-it-is-a-fight-to-the-finish-the-slaying/) [Morihei Ueshiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morihei-ueshiba/) [Browse all 11,163 Evil quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Evil requires the sanction of the victim.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ayn Rand" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/evil-requires-the-sanction-of-the-victim/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Evil" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/evil-requires-the-sanction-of-the-victim/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/ayn-rand-59_evil_evil-requires-the-sanction-of-the-victim_2794917.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/ayn-rand-59_evil_evil-requires-the-sanction-of-the-victim_2794917.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/ayn-rand-59_evil_evil-requires-the-sanction-of-the-victim_2794917.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Evil requires the sanction of the victim.” — Ayn Rand", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ayn Rand", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Evil requires the sanction of the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/evil-requires-the-sanction-of-the-victim/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/evil-requires-the-sanction-of-the-victim/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```