New York, NY…A Bit of Wisdom from russian born Ayn Rand on Her Birthday. Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum (Ayn Rand) February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982. Her work and world views were shaped by spending her youth during the rise and early years of the communists in Russia.

“Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual).” ~ Ayn Rand, February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982

“We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force.” ~ Ayn Rand, February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982

“The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.” ~ Ayn Rand, February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982

“The moral justification of capitalism is man’s right to exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself.” ~ Ayn Rand, February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982

“The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.” ~ Ayn Rand, February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982

“The recognition of individual rights entails the banishment of physical force from human relationships.” ~ Ayn Rand, February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982

“The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody had decided not to see.” ~ Ayn Rand, February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982

“The right to property…does not mean that others must provide him with property.” ~ Ayn Rand, February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982

“Individual rights are the means of subordinating society to moral law.” ~ Ayn Rand, February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982