...In this connection, it is important to note the epistemological significance of a free society. In a free society, the pursuit of truth is protected by the free access of any individual to any field of endeavor he may choose to enter. (A free access does not mean a guarantee of success, or of financial support, or of anyone's acceptance and agreement--it means the absence of any forced restrictions or legal barriers.)

- Ayn Rand, 'Who Is The Final Authority in Ethics?,' An answer to a reader's question from The Objectivist Newsletter, February 1965