Gandhi quotes first they ignore you

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If we want to cultivate a true spirit of democracy we cannot afford to be intolerant. A quotation often attributed to him asserts that popular movements pass through four stages:

First they ignore you. Louis Agassiz? Are these really the words of Gandhi?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Several researchers have attempted to find these words in Gandhi’s oeuvre without success.

This can only be done by enabling them to realise that they need not fear brute force, if they but know the soul within.

Non-cooperation is an attempt to awaken the masses, to a sense of their dignity and power. the three inevitable objections which, according to Professor Agassiz, all new and startling facts in science must encounter, first, “that it is not true,” and secondly, “that it is contrary to religion,” has now happily arrived at the stage in which people say “everyone knew it before.”

The above remark is traced through time in a separate website entry located here.

In 1913 the book “Allgemeine Verkehrsgeographie” credited Schopenhauer with the following German expression.

‘A couple of years ago, they said that kind of thing was too disorienting for viewers…

“That’s the cycle in this business. Both give place to respect when they fail to produce the intended effect.

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His Excellency resists the temptation to reply to his critics, meaning thereby that he has not changed his opinion on the many vital matters affecting the honour of India.

Non-cooperation is directed not against men but against measures. Yet, the author Morgan disclaimed credit by using the phrase “it has been said”. .

An opponent is entitled to the same regard for his principles as we would expect others to have for ours. First they ignore you.