That's the quote I was trying to think of, but the Gandhi quote was all I could find. Interestingly, it may be that NEITHER Schopenhauer nor Gandhi said anything of the sort, for both attributions are disputed. It is frequently the case that popular quotations get attributed to more famous personages. Saying they come from Sir James Mackenzie and Nicholas Klein is not nearly as impressive. Does anyone have an original source for either of these quotes?
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." --popularly attributed to Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 to 1860)
Disputed, according to
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer#Disputed o As cited in Truth : Resuming the Age of Reason (2006) by Mahlon Marr; the earliest attribution of this to Schopenhauer yet found dates to around 1986; it is also sometimes misattributed to George Bernard Shaw, and a similar statement is often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
o Variant : Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognized. In the first it is ridiculed, in the second it is opposed, in the third it is regarded as self- evident.
o The earliest similar statements yet found in published works online are:
o It has been said that the reception of an original contribution to knowledge may be divided into three phases: during the first it is ridiculed as not true, impossible or useless; during the second, people say that there may be something in it but it would never be of any practical use; and in the third and final phase, when the discovery has received general recognition, there are usually people who say that it is not original and has been anticipated by others. [a note at the bottom of the page adds: This saying seems to have originated from Sir James Mackenzie (The Beloved Physician, by R. M. Wilson, John Murray, London)]
+ William Ian Beardmore Beveridge, in The Art of Scientific Investigation (1955), p. 113
o First, it is ridiculed; second, it is subject to argument: third, it is accepted.
+ Earl B. Morgan, in "The Accident Prevention Problem in the Small Shop" in Safety Engineering Vol. 33 (1950), p. 366
o The four stages of acceptance: 1. This is worthless nonsense. 2. This is an interesting, but perverse, point of view. 3. This is true, but quite unimportant. 4. I always said so.
+ J. B. S. Haldane, Journal of Genetics 1963 (Vol 58, p.464) in a review of 'The Truth About Death'.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” --popularly attributed to Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869 - 1948)
Disputed, according to
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mohandas_Karamchand_GandhiA close variant of the quotation first appears in a 1914 US trade union address by Nicholas Klein:
"And, my friends, in this story you have a history of this entire movement. First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. And then they attack you and want to burn you. And then they build monuments to you. And that, is what is going to happen to the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America." --General Executive Board Report and Proceedings, Biennial Convention, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (1914)