Abraham Lincoln quote on prosperity
Did Ab
raham Lincoln really say this?
There is a quote flying around the Web lately attributing the following to Abraham Lincoln and tying it to President Obama’s “alignment” with Lincoln philosophies. Here is the message:
“You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.”
According to what I found, the words are often attributed to Abraham Lincoln, but according to the book They Never Said it: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, & Misleading Attributions, they are not from Lincoln.
The quotes were published in 1942 by William J. H. Boetcker, a Presbyterian minister. He released a pamphlet titled Lincoln On Limitations, which did include a Lincoln quote, but also added 10 statements written by Boetcker himself.
Whether or not these words were spoken by Lincoln, they do have a pretty solid ring to them, don’t you think?
Very nice- I wouldn’t have thought to check to see if this quote was attributable to Lincoln, even though some of the wording seems maybe more modern than what he would have used.
Truth is truth, though= regardless of the source.