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A right is the sanction of independent action. A right is that which can be exercised without anyone’s permission.

If you exist only because society permits you to exist — you have no right to your own life. A permission can be revoked at any time.

If, before undertaking some action, you must obtain the permission of society — you are not free, whether such permission is granted to you or not. Only a slave acts on permission. A permission is not a right.

Do not make the mistake, at this point, of thinking that a worker is a slave and that he holds his job by his employer’s permission. He does not hold it by permission — but by contract, that is, by a voluntary mutual agreement. A worker can quit his job. A slave cannot.

“Textbook of Americanism”
The Ayn Rand Column, 83
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