What I actually am, Mr. Rearden, is a policeman. It is a policeman's duty to protect men from criminals--criminals being those who seize wealth by force. It is a policeman's duty to retrieve stolen property and return it to its owners. But when robbery becomes the purpose of the law, and the policeman's duty becomes, not the protection, but the plunder of property--then it is an outlaw who has to become a policeman.
What I actually am, Mr. Rearden, is a policeman. It is a policeman's duty to protect men from criminals--criminals being those who seize wealth by force. It is a policeman's duty to retrieve stolen property and return it to its owners. But when robbery becomes the purpose of the law, and the policeman's duty becomes, not the protection, but the plunder of property--then it is an outlaw who has to become a policeman.