Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Speech ·80 of 348
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. — Mahatma Gandhi"
They never said that.
What people say
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. — Mahatma Gandhi"
What was actually said
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they attack you, and then they build monuments to you. — Nicholas Klein, 1918. Nicholas Klein (union leader) — Nicholas Klein, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America speech (1918)
Why it stuck
No Gandhi text contains the quote. The structure closely matches Klein's 1918 speech to clothing workers, which predates Gandhi's public fame outside India.
The misattribution to Gandhi appears to begin in the 1980s.
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