Quotation by

Ayn Rand

Potentially, a government is the most dangerous threat to man's rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims.

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Understanding this quote AI Analysis

Ayn Rand is saying that because the government alone has the legal power to use force, it can harm people's rights more than anyone else. This danger comes from the fact that citizens are not allowed to defend themselves with force, making them vulnerable to government actions.

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A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take …
I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.

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Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil in its worst state, an intolerable one.