“First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they attack you. Then you win.”

Circulates under Mahatma Gandhi

Editorial status

misattributed

No record of Gandhi saying this staged four-part version is supplied. A close predecessor appears in a 1918 address by union activist Nicholas Klein, with different wording and an additional final stage.

Source-backed author: Nicholas Klein

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.

Earliest traceable appearance in this record: 1918 address by Nicholas Klein to the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America.

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