--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Individual rights are not subject to a…" description: "\"Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority.\" — Ayn Rand" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/ayn-rand-59_collectivism_individual-rights-are-not-subject-to-a-p_2507194.jpg" --- # Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a… ![“Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority.” quote by Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/ayn-rand-59_collectivism_individual-rights-are-not-subject-to-a-p_2507194.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/ayn-rand-59_collectivism_individual-rights-are-not-subject-to-a-p_2507194.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/ayn-rand-59_collectivism_individual-rights-are-not-subject-to-a-p_2507194.jpg) > “Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority.” [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. Majority rule cannot override the inviolable rights of minorities; rights are not subject to popular vote. **In simple terms:** Minority rights cannot be voted away by the majority. Key Takeaway Protect individual rights against majority tyranny. Themes political philosophy civil liberties democracy Mood serious defiant Type philosophical political When to use this quote - judicial review - constitutional safeguards - civil rights activism Key Concepts liberalism rights theory majoritarianism Questions to Reflect On - How should societies balance majority rule with minority rights? - What mechanisms best guard against rights erosion? A Different Perspective Populist movements may pressure rights protections. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Collectivism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collectivism/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Individual rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual-rights/) [Individualism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individualism/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Majority and minority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/majority-and-minority/) [Minorities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minorities/) [Minority government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minority-government/) [Objectivism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objectivism/) [Political oppression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-oppression/) [Right to vote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-to-vote/) [Rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rights/) [Vote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vote/) ## Related quotes > [Though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/though-the-will-of-the-majority-is-in-all-cases-to-prevail-that-will/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-minority-possess-their-equal-rights-which-equal-law-must-protect/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/individual-rights-are-not-subject-to-a-public-vote-a-majority-has-no/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [ \[We are\] no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/we-are-no-longer-a-government-by-free-opinion-no-longer-a-government/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [“How many votes does it take to get the United States of America firmly into the legal nightmare described in Gabriel’s Stand? Sixty seven…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-b-gaskill/how-many-votes-does-it-take-to-get-the-united-states-of-america/) Jay B. Gaskill > [We go by the major vote, and if the majority are insane, the sane must go to the hospital.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/we-go-by-the-major-vote-and-if-the-majority-are-insane-the-sane-must/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Donald Trump could win the presidency without a popular-vote majority only because both parties have been locked into base-turnout strategies that are partially responsible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/donald-trump-could-win-the-presidency-without-a-popular-vote-majority/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [Don't make decisions by majority vote. The majority is almost always wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-rogers/don-t-make-decisions-by-majority-vote-the-majority-is-almost-always/) [Adrian Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-rogers/) > [In making the great experiment of governing people by consent rather than by coercion, it is not sufficient that the party in power should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/in-making-the-great-experiment-of-governing-people-by-consent-rather/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [Shall we then judge a country by the majority, or by the minority? 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A real Muslim is not a democrat because he doesn't care about the opinions of majorities and minorities don't interest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdul-sattar-abu-risha/democracy-is-for-infidels-a-real-muslim-is-not-a-democrat-because-he/) [Abdul Sattar Abu Risha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdul-sattar-abu-risha/) > [That the desires of the majority of the people are often for injustice and inhumanity against the minority, is demonstrated by every page of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/that-the-desires-of-the-majority-of-the-people-are-often-for/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) ## 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 Collectivism quotes > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [Motherland is our property and we have right to handle our properties as pleased. The jokes about death for the sake of the motherland…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/motherland-is-our-property-and-we-have-right-to-handle-our-properties/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [“Socialists and Progressives confuse compassion and compulsion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-samaan/socialists-and-progressives-confuse-compassion-and-compulsion/) [A.E. Samaan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-samaan/) > [Your best friends are your principles, if you havent them, dont look for another friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/your-best-friends-are-your-principles-if-you-havent-them-dont-look/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [A strong saying is not afraid of criticism, because it includes all the answers to criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/a-strong-saying-is-not-afraid-of-criticism-because-it-includes-all/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [ \[American\] conformism might approximate collectivism, not so much in economic respects, and not too much in political respects, but very much in the pattern… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tillich/american-conformism-might-approximate-collectivism-not-so-much-in/) [Paul Tillich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tillich/) > [“He needed the people and the clamour around him. There was no questions and no doubts when he stood on a platform over a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/he-needed-the-people-and-the-clamour-around-him-there-was-no/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [It is true that the virtues which are less esteemed and practiced now--independence, self-reliance, and the willingness to bear risks, the readiness to back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/it-is-true-that-the-virtues-which-are-less-esteemed-and-practiced-now/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [A noble person stands up as though a theater curtain rises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/a-noble-person-stands-up-as-though-a-theater-curtain-rises/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [I don't envisage collectivism. There is no such animal, it is always individualism, sometimes the rest vote and sometimes they do not, and if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-don-t-envisage-collectivism-there-is-no-such-animal-it-is-always/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“They say, 'No private property', and immediately after strive to maintain private property in its daily manifestations. 'You shall be a commune as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kropotkin/they-say-no-private-property-and-immediately-after-strive-to-maintain/) [Pyotr Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kropotkin/) > [“the only secure basis for oligarchy is collectivism. Wealth”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-only-secure-basis-for-oligarchy-is-collectivism-wealth/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Subconsciously it is possible to act, consciously it is possible to decide and overconsciously to create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/subconsciously-it-is-possible-to-act-consciously-it-is-possible-to/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [Unfortunately, our leadership decided to abandon the model that had made us rich and embrace the impoverishing ideas of collectivism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-milei/unfortunately-our-leadership-decided-to-abandon-the-model-that-had/) [Javier Milei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-milei/) > [By consequence I hold that no one ever did, or can do, anything for "society."... 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Nock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-j-nock/) [Browse all 246 Collectivism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collectivism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ayn Rand" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/individual-rights-are-not-subject-to-a-public-vote-a-majority-has-no-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Collectivism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/individual-rights-are-not-subject-to-a-public-vote-a-majority-has-no-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/ayn-rand-59_collectivism_individual-rights-are-not-subject-to-a-p_2507194.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/ayn-rand-59_collectivism_individual-rights-are-not-subject-to-a-p_2507194.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/ayn-rand-59_collectivism_individual-rights-are-not-subject-to-a-p_2507194.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a…” — 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": "Individual rights are not subject to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/individual-rights-are-not-subject-to-a-public-vote-a-majority-has-no-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/individual-rights-are-not-subject-to-a-public-vote-a-majority-has-no-2/#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 } } ] } ```