Full Idea
The main element in any one's right to life or liberty or property is extinguished by his failure to respect the corresponding right in others.
Gist of Idea
People lose their rights if they do not respect the rights of others
Source
W. David Ross (The Right and the Good [1930], §II App II)
Book Reference
Ross,W.David: 'The Right and the Good' [OUP 1930], p.60
A Reaction
This obvious truth brings out the way in which rights are based on a contract (with the whole of a society) rather than being based on 'natural rights'. If ownership were totally communal, you couldn't introduce a 'right' to private property.