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What did Doctor Doom really want? He wanted to rule the world. Now, think about this. You could walk across the street against a traffic light and get a summons for jaywalking, but you could walk up to a police officer and say 'I want to rule the world,' and there's nothing he can do about it, that is not a crime. Anybody can want to rule the world. So, even though he was the Fantastic Four's greatest menace, in my mind, he was never a criminal!

Stan Lee#6

CrimeEthicsIntentLaw

About this quote

What does it mean?
Lee argues wanting to rule the world isn't a crime, distinguishing desire from actionable illegal acts.
In plain terms
Wanting power isn't illegal; acting on it can be.
What can you take from it?
Intent alone isn't a crime.

Where it applies

  • discussing villain motivations
  • analyzing legal boundaries

Putting it to work

  • separating thought from action
  • critiquing motives fairly

Questions to consider

  • When does wanting become doing?
  • Should thoughts be judged?

Another view

In practice, plotting harm often crosses into illegal.

More from Stan Lee

  1. They are working on The Fantastic Four, The Silver Surfer, Iron Man, Dr. Strange, The Hulk- they're doing a sequel to Spider-Man, a sequel to X-Men, and probab…

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  2. I felt someday I'd write 'The Great American Novel' and I didn't want to use my real name on these silly little comics.

    Permalink to quote #7
  3. In the early days, I was writing scripts for virtually all the books, and it was very hard to keep all the artists busy; poor little frail me, doing story afte…

    Permalink to quote #4

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