--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If it were true that men could achieve…" description: "\"“If it were true that men could achieve their good by means of turning some men into sacrificial animals, and I were asked to immolate myself for the s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03c/ayn-rand-59_individualism_if-it-were-true-that-men-could-achieve-t_484009.jpg" --- # If it were true that men could achieve their good by means… ![“If it were true that men could achieve their good by means of turning some men into sacrificial animals, and I were asked to immolate myself for the sake of creatures who wanted to survive at the price of my blood, if I were asked to serve the interests of society apart from, above and against my…” quote by Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03c/ayn-rand-59_individualism_if-it-were-true-that-men-could-achieve-t_484009.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03c/ayn-rand-59_individualism_if-it-were-true-that-men-could-achieve-t_484009.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03c/ayn-rand-59_individualism_if-it-were-true-that-men-could-achieve-t_484009.jpg) > ““If it were true that men could achieve their good by means of turning some men into sacrificial animals, and I were asked to immolate myself for the sake of creatures who wanted to survive at the price of my blood, if I were asked to serve the interests of society apart from, above and against my own - I would refuse. I would reject it as the most contemptible evil, I would fight it with every power I possess, I would fight the whole of mankind, if one minute were all I could last before I were murdered, I would fight in the full confidence of the justice of my battle and of a living being's right to exist. Let there be no misunderstanding about me. If it is now the belief of my fellow men, who call themselves the public, that their good requires victims, then I say: The public good be damned, I will have no part of it!”” [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. The speaker rejects sacrificing individuals for a supposed collective good, deeming it immoral and a violation of personal rights. **In simple terms:** Refuse to sacrifice people for a claimed public benefit. Key Takeaway Stand against unjust sacrifice of individuals. Themes ethics individual rights political philosophy Mood defiant philosophical Type political ethical When to use this quote - political activism - legal reform - public policy debates Key Concepts utilitarianism moral absolutism civil disobedience Questions to Reflect On - When is sacrifice justified, if ever? - How do we balance individual rights with collective needs? 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She knew she was dying. But it did not matter any longer. She had known something which no human words could ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-smiled-she-knew-she-was-dying-but-it-did-not-matter-any-longer/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## 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. 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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 Individualism quotes > [I have visited sweatshops, factories, and crowded slums. If I could not see it, I could smell it. 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I think it's the flip side of an age of individualism.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-nichols/in-many-ways-the-young-are-more-religiously-minded-than-the-older/) [Vincent Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-nichols/) > [The individualism of current economic theory is manifest in the purely self-interested behaviour it generally assumes. It has no real place for fairness, malevolence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-e-daly/the-individualism-of-current-economic-theory-is-manifest-in-the/) [Herman E. Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-e-daly/) > [All greatness of character is dependent on individuality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-f-cooper/all-greatness-of-character-is-dependent-on-individuality/) [James F. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-f-cooper/) > [“In addition to the transience of their members, churches themselves face a crisis of hypermobility. Many churches have put down only shallow roots in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-christopher-smith/in-addition-to-the-transience-of-their-members-churches-themselves/) [C. Christopher Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-christopher-smith/) > [“Daisuke was of course equipped with conversation that, even if they went further, would allow him to retreat as if nothing had happened. 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I would reject it as the most contemptible evil, I would fight it with every power I possess, I would fight the whole of mankind, if one minute were all I could last before I were murdered, I would fight in the full confidence of the justice of my battle and of a living being's right to exist. Let there be no misunderstanding about me. 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