Did Leonard Peikoff misquote ‘Atlas Shrugged’?

In-house rules Feb 26, 2024 · By Dennis Hackethal

Misquote: 8 issues found

Unmarked changes are underlined in wavy red. Hover over themTap them or see the explanation below. Checked using the pattern \w+|. and the Patience algorithm.

Suggested fix

The quote with each unmarked change either marked or undone. It passes the check.

We do not think that tragedy is our natural [state.] [...] [We] do not live in chronic dread of disaster. We do not expect disaster until we have specific reason to expect it—and when we encounter it, we are free to fight it. It is not happiness, but suffering that we consider unnatural. It is not success, but calamity that we regard as the abnormal exception in human life.

Original text

We do not think that tragedy is our natural fate and we do not live in chronic dread of disaster. We do not expect disaster until we have specific reason to expect it—and when we encounter it, we are free to fight it. It is not happiness, but suffering that we consider unnatural. It is not success, but calamity that we regard as the abnormal exception in human life.

Quote text

We do not think that tragedy is our natural state. We do not live in chronic dread of disaster. We do not expect disaster until we have specific reason to expect it, and when we encounter it, we are free to fight it. It is not happiness, but suffering, that we consider unnatural. It is not success but calamity that we regard as the abnormal exception in human life.

No use of ellipsis indicated, falling back to default ‘[...]’ if necessary.

Diff

We‧do‧not‧think‧that‧tragedy‧is‧our‧natural‧fatestate.‧and‧weWe‧do‧not‧live‧in‧chronic‧dread‧of‧disaster.‧We‧do‧not‧expect‧disaster‧until‧we‧have‧specific‧reason‧to‧expect‧it—,‧and‧when‧we‧encounter‧it,‧we‧are‧free‧to‧fight‧it.‧It‧is‧not‧happiness,‧but‧suffering,‧that‧we‧consider‧unnatural.‧It‧is‧not‧success,‧but‧calamity‧that‧we‧regard‧as‧the‧abnormal‧exception‧in‧human‧life.

added in the quote ~~removed~~ from the original wavy not marked as a change ‧ space

Part-by-part explanation

#	Part	Valid?	Explanation
1	We‧do‧not‧think‧that‧tragedy‧is‧our‧natural‧
2	~~fate~~	× no	Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[...]’ or [replacement].
3	state.	× no	Insertions must be surrounded by [brackets].
4	‧
5	~~and‧we~~	× no	Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[...]’ or [replacement].
6	We	× no	Insertions must be surrounded by [brackets].
7	‧do‧not‧live‧in‧chronic‧dread‧of‧disaster.‧We‧do‧not‧expect‧disaster‧until‧we‧have‧specific‧reason‧to‧expect‧it
8	—	× no	Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[...]’ or [replacement].
9	,‧	× no	Insertions must be surrounded by [brackets].
10	and‧when‧we‧encounter‧it,‧we‧are‧free‧to‧fight‧it.‧It‧is‧not‧happiness,‧but‧suffering
11	,	× no	Insertions must be surrounded by [brackets].
12	‧that‧we‧consider‧unnatural.‧It‧is‧not‧success
13	,	× no	Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[...]’ or [replacement].
14	‧but‧calamity‧that‧we‧regard‧as‧the‧abnormal‧exception‧in‧human‧life.

Notes

Ayn Rand Lexicon’s (ARL) source link points to a 404 page. Presumably they meant this page instead, where Peikoff’s course on objectivism is sold for $178.99. This is a misquote assuming that the ARL quote of Peikoff is accurate and that Peikoff used the same edition of Atlas Shrugged as me. I’m not going to spend $178.99 to find out. ARL quotes Peikoff as saying, in a parenthetical, “I quote just part of this passage”, but that doens’t explain the alterations. It’s not like his quote suffers from any invalid omissions.

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