Atlas Shrugged

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 "In full and in gold, Mr. Rearden."
Rearden burst out laughing; he laughed like a young boy, in simple amusement, in enjoyment of the
incredible. "Good God! You're a policeman and a collector of Internal Revenue, too?"
"Yes," said Danneskjold gravely.
"You're not serious about this, are you?"
"Do I look as if I'm joking?"
"But this is preposterous!"
"Any more preposterous than Directive 10-289?"
"It's not real or possible!"
"Is only evil real and possible?"
"But—"
"Are you thinking that death and taxes are our only certainty, Mr.
Rearden? Well, there's nothing I can do about the first, but if I lift the burden of the second, men might
learn to see the connection between the two and what a longer, happier life they have the power to
achieve. They might learn to hold, not death and taxes, but life and production as their two absolutes and
as the base of their moral code."
Rearden looked at him, not smiling. The tall, slim figure, with the windbreaker stressing its trained
muscular agility, was that of a highwayman; the stern marble face was that of a judge; the dry, clear voice
was that of an efficient bookkeeper.
"The looters are not the only ones who have kept records on you, Mr. Rearden. So have I. I have, in my
files, copies of all your income tax returns for the last twelve years, as well as the returns of all my other
clients. I have friends in some astonishing places, who obtain the copies I need. I divide the money
among my clients in proportion to the sums extorted from them. Most of my accounts have now been
paid to their owners. Yours is the largest one left to settle. On the day when you will be ready to claim
it—the day when I'll know that no penny of it will go back to support the looters—I will turn your
account over to you. Until then—" He glanced down at the gold on the ground. "Pick it up, Mr. Rearden.
It's not stolen. It's yours."
Rearden would not move or answer or look down.
"Much more than that lies in the bank, in your name."
"What bank?"
"Do you remember Midas Mulligan of Chicago?"
"Yes, of course."