Ayn Rand Lexicon misquoting For the New Intellectual

01/19/2024 · By Dennis Hackethal · Fork · Check another quote

Original text

“There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil. The man who is wrong still retains some respect for truth, if only by accepting the responsibility of choice. But the man in the middle is the knave who blanks out the truth in order to pretend that no choice or values exist, who is willing to sit out the course of any battle, willing to cash in on the blood of the innocent or to crawl on his belly to the guilty, who dispenses justice by condemning both the robber and the robbed to jail, who solves conflicts by ordering the thinker and the fool to meet each other halfway. In any compromise between food and poison, it is only death that can win. In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit. In that transfusion of blood which drains the good to feed the evil, the compromiser is the transmitting rubber tube. “You, who are half-rational, half-coward, have been playing a con game with reality, but the victim you have conned is yourself. When men reduce their virtues to the approximate, then evil acquires the force of an absolute, when loyalty to an unyielding purpose is dropped by the virtuous, it’s picked up by scoundrels—and you get the indecent spectacle of a cringing, bargaining, traitorous good and a self-righteously uncompromising evil.

Quote text

There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil. The man who is wrong still retains some respect for truth, if only by accepting the responsibility of choice. But the man in the middle is the knave who blanks out the truth in order to pretend that no choice or values exist, who is willing to sit out the course of any battle, willing to cash in on the blood of the innocent or to crawl on his belly to the guilty, who dispenses justice by condemning both the robber and the robbed to jail, who solves conflicts by ordering the thinker and the fool to meet each other halfway. In any compromise between food and poison, it is only death that can win. In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit. In that transfusion of blood which drains the good to feed the evil, the compromiser is the transmitting rubber tube . . . When men reduce their virtues to the approximate, then evil acquires the force of an absolute, when loyalty to an unyielding purpose is dropped by the virtuous, it’s picked up by scoundrels—and you get the indecent spectacle of a cringing, bargaining, traitorous good and a self-righteously uncompromising evil.
Ellipsis used (if any): ‘. . .’

Found 3 issue(s) using regular expression . and Myers algorithm, underlined in wavy red.
Therearetwosidestoeveryissue:onesideisrightandtheotheriswrong,butthemiddleisalwaysevil.Themanwhoiswrongstillretainssomerespectfortruth,ifonlybyacceptingtheresponsibilityofchoice.Butthemaninthemiddleistheknavewhoblanksoutthetruthinordertopretendthatnochoiceorvaluesexist,whoiswillingtositoutthecourseofanybattle,willingtocashinonthebloodoftheinnocentortocrawlonhisbellytotheguilty,whodispensesjusticebycondemningboththerobberandtherobbedtojail,whosolvesconflictsbyorderingthethinkerandthefooltomeeteachotherhalfway.Inanycompromisebetweenfoodandpoison,itisonlydeaththatcanwin.Inanycompromisebetweengoodandevil,itisonlyevilthatcanprofit.Inthattransfusionofbloodwhichdrainsthegoodtofeedtheevil,thecompromiseristhetransmittingrubbertube.↵“You,whoarehalf-rational,half-coward,havebeenplayingacongamewithreality,butthevictimyouhaveconnedisyourself....Whenmenreducetheirvirtuestotheapproximate,thenevilacquirestheforceofanabsolute,whenloyaltytoanunyieldingpurposeisdroppedbythevirtuous,it’spickedupbyscoundrels—andyougettheindecentspectacleofacringing,bargaining,traitorousgoodandaself-righteouslyuncompromisingevil.

Explanation

# Part Valid? Explanation
1
× no Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘. . .’ or [replacement].
2
Therearetwosidestoeveryissue:onesideisrightandtheotheriswrong,butthemiddleisalwaysevil.Themanwhoiswrongstillretainssomerespectfortruth,ifonlybyacceptingtheresponsibilityofchoice.Butthemaninthemiddleistheknavewhoblanksoutthetruthinordertopretendthatnochoiceorvaluesexist,whoiswillingtositoutthecourseofanybattle,willingtocashinonthebloodoftheinnocentortocrawlonhisbellytotheguilty,whodispensesjusticebycondemningboththerobberandtherobbedtojail,whosolvesconflictsbyorderingthethinkerandthefooltomeeteachotherhalfway.Inanycompromisebetweenfoodandpoison,itisonlydeaththatcanwin.Inanycompromisebetweengoodandevil,itisonlyevilthatcanprofit.Inthattransfusionofbloodwhichdrainsthegoodtofeedtheevil,thecompromiseristhetransmittingrubbertube
3
.↵“You,whoarehalf-rational,half-coward,havebeenplayingacongamewithreality,butthevictimyouhaveconnedisyourself.
× no Deletions cannot contain linebreaks.
4
5
...
✓ yes Insertion is an ellipsis.
6
× no Insertions cannot contain linebreaks.
7
Whenmenreducetheirvirtuestotheapproximate,thenevilacquirestheforceofanabsolute,whenloyaltytoanunyieldingpurposeisdroppedbythevirtuous,it’spickedupbyscoundrels—andyougettheindecentspectacleofacringing,bargaining,traitorousgoodandaself-righteouslyuncompromisingevil.

Please note
  • This tool is in its beta stage. Expect things to break; proceed with caution.
  • This tool isn't magic. It can only catch errors that can be determined programmatically. But quoting properly is also about accurately reflecting the meaning of the quoted content to the reader. That requires an understanding of the content, which is something this site cannot give you. Quoting properly is still your responsibility.
  • Red markings indicate that something was removed in the quote that was present in the original. Conversely, green markings indicate that something added in the quote that wasn't present in the original. Red and green markings don't necessarily error – improper additions and deletions are underlined in wavy red.
  • When no issues are found, that is NOT a guarantee that a quote is not a misquote.
  • Results are not necessarily in line with your styleguide. For example, for ellipses at the end of a sentence, preceding punctuation may or may not be omitted depending on your style guide. Given the following original...
    Tim had dinner, and he enjoyed it.
    ...the quote below will be marked as incorrect because it omits the comma:
    Tim had dinner [...].
    This quote, however, will pass with zero issues:
    Tim had dinner, [...].
    Whether punctuation can be omitted without breaking the meaning the author of the quoted text intended also depends on context and content, so you need to check yourself.
  • Depending on your styleguide, ‘swallowing’ a linebreak with an ellipsis may not be permissible, but this site does permit it.
  • Formatting, such as italics and bold text, is not yet supported. Consequently, changes in formatting cannot be detected. Use something like markdown syntax – *single asterisks for italics*, **double asterisks for bold text**, etc. – to indicate and detect changes in formatting. Pasting from other websites should convert to this syntax automatically. If your quote adds or omits emphasis, be sure to indicate that in your text (eg by saying 'emphasis added' or 'emphasis removed').