In The End Quotes
This quote is often misattributed to Abraham Lincoln. It has not been found in any of his writings. The use of a chiasmus (a rhetorical device reversing word order in successive clauses) is very uncharacteristic of Abraham Lincoln's speech or writing. Quote Investigator (QI) credits {Edward J. Stieglitz} as the originator (although its possible his advertising copywriter was the source).
Often misattributed to {Abraham Lincoln} - see [217068]. According to the Quote Investigator, this quote first appeared in Stieglitz's book "The Second Forty Years".
This was much more the case in 1840 when this quotation was written. Since then, a much higher proportion of American society has become educated, and the cultures that American immigrants have come from had multiplied. Publications abounded and after radio and television there were more attacks on American majority positions. The major change came with radio call in talk shows, similar TV shows and then the Internet provided a painless way to publicly go against majority opinion. By the first decade of the 21st century, movements of majority rejectionists such as the Tea Party and the Occupy Movement were thriving and “futile contests” received much public attention and showed that there were others with the non-majority views who made it socially acceptable to be outside the norms of the majority.
