A crime is the violation of the right(s) of other men by force (or fraud). It is only the initiation of physical force against others- i.e., the recourse to violence- that can be classified as a crime in a free society (as distinguished from a civil wrong). Ideas, in a free society, are not a crime- and neither can they serve as the justification of a crime.

— Ayn Rand The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (1971)

More quotes by Ayn Rand

Ellsworth Toohey in The Fountainhead (1943)

The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (1971)

The Virtue of Selfishness (1964)

Anthem (1938)

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