# Quote — Ayn Rand, Capitalism

> It took centuries of intellectual, philosophical development to achieve political freedom. It was a long struggle, stretching from Aristotle to John Locke to the Founding Fathers. The system they established was not based on unlimited majority rule, but on its opposite: on individual rights, which were not to be alienated by majority vote or minority plotting. The individual was not left at the mercy of his neighbors or his leaders: the Constitutional system of checks and balances was scientifically devised to protect him from both. This was the great American achievement—and if concern for the actual welfare of other nations were our present leaders' motive, this is what we should have been teaching the world.

- Author: [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md)
- Book: [Capitalism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/capitalism.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand#Capitalism:_The_Unknown_Ideal_(1966)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/capitalism/it-took-centuries

## More from this book

> Let anyone who believes that a high standard of living is the achievement of labor unions and government controls ask himself the following question: If one had a "time machine" and transported the united labor chieftains of America, plus three million government bureaucrats, back to the tenth century—would they be able to provide the medieval serf with electric light, refrigerators, automobiles, and television sets?

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/capitalism/let-anyone-who.md)

> A gun is not an argument.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/capitalism/a-gun-is-not.md)

> It is futile to fight against, if one does not know what one is fighting for.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/capitalism/it-is-futile.md)