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About this quote

What does it mean?
Progress comes from minorities who act differently than the majority. The majority eventually learns from their experiments.
In plain terms
Minorities lead progress, and the majority learns from them.
What can you take from it?
Value minority innovation for societal learning.

Where it applies

  • policy testing
  • social reform
  • cultural evolution

Putting it to work

  • support dissenters
  • tolerate nonconformity
  • value pilot programs

Questions to consider

  • How does society learn from dissent?
  • Should we always follow the majority?

Another view

Majorities sometimes reject minority ideas permanently.

More from Friedrich Hayek

  1. In government, the scum rises to the top.

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  2. It is indeed probable that more harm and misery have been caused by men determined to use coercion to stamp out a moral evil than by men intent on doing evil.

    Permalink to quote #145
  3. I do not think it is an exaggeration to say history is largely a history of inflation, usually inflations engineered by governments for the gain of governments.

    Permalink to quote #142

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