Atlas Society misquotes Ayn Rand’s ‘Man’s Rights’ (2)

Apr 05, 2024 · By Dennis Hackethal · Fork · Check another quote

Original text

As to his neighbors, his rights impose no obligations on them except of a negative kind: to abstain from violating his rights.
Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness, https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-virtue-of-selfishness/id357924903

Quote text

Rights impose no obligations on [neighbors] except of a negative kind: to abstain from violating his rights.
https://twitter.com/TheAtlasSociety/status/1775155124282831267
No use of ellipsis indicated, falling back to default ‘[...]’ if necessary.
Found 4 issue(s) using regular expression . and Myers algorithm, underlined in wavy red. 
As‧to‧his‧neighbors,‧his‧rRights‧impose‧no‧obligations‧on‧them[neighbors]‧except‧of‧a‧*negative*‧kind:‧to‧abstain‧from‧violating‧his‧rights.

Explanation

# Part Valid? Explanation
1 
As‧to‧his‧neighbors,‧his‧r
 × no Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[...]’ or [replacement].
2 
R
 × no Insertions must be surrounded by [brackets].
3 
ights‧impose‧no‧obligations‧on‧
4 
them
 ✓ yes Deletion is followed by a valid insertion.
5 
[neighbors]
 ✓ yes Insertion is properly bracketed.
6 
‧except‧of‧a‧
7 
*
 × no Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[...]’ or [replacement].
8 
negative
9 
*
 × no Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[...]’ or [replacement].
10 
‧kind:‧to‧abstain‧from‧violating‧his‧rights.

Notes

Without context, the quote is confusing because it’s not clear who the word “his” refers to. The preceding sentence in the original refers to “every individual”.

Embed

Click this button to copy the embed code, then paste it where you want the diff to appear:

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').