Friedman believed tiny minorities make all major historical movements

Evidence

Friedman took from this a strong conviction that marginalized individuals had the capacity to effect po liti cal change, and an understanding that public assumptions about po liti cal economy were malleable only over very long periods. “All important movements in the history of mankind have come from tiny minorities,” he said at a commencement ceremony in 1969. “They are made by a few creative individuals who see ahead of the masses and who lay the path for the future.” He never showed signs of being disheartened at those stages of his career when his ideas were rejected by most of his colleagues in the academy and his politics were widely derided as far outside the mainstream. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 556

Categorization

• CANDY: Friedman telling a college commencement audience that all great movements come from tiny minorities who ‘see ahead of the masses’ is a compact, quotable nugget about the man.