“You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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The opposite view might be:
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. – But you can strengthen the strong by weakening the weak even more. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich – but you can certainly help the rich by destroying the poor even more.
I could continue even more – but you get the point.
Reality is in the eye of the beholder…
Gur: Yes I do get the point… President Obama is the theological opposite view to Boetker’s ten “you-can’t's”. I also ‘get the point’ that ‘Yes we can’ translates to “Yes we can undermine the right of the American people to self-governance and inflict ideaology on them instead.” But getting back to Lincoln: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time…” in 2012.
I don’t think you can strengthen the strong by weakening the weak even more, unless you are an aristocracy. I also don’t think you can help the rich by destroying the poor. The rich must help the poor…
Look all around at the philanthropy going on in the world. And now the government wants to remove incentives for the rich to continue to give freely? We live in unusual times that do not make sense to me.
The weak doesn’t need a fish (philanthropy), he has to learn fishing (education) or in need for a fishing rod (job with decent salary).
I believe Obama will help the majority of the people in the US. And I truly believe it will benefit the US in many fields.
However, he (nor his policies) did not get us into this mess…
We should talk about this over lunch someday soon.
it was missed because Lincoln never said it
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.
They were:
1. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
2. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong
3. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
4. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
5. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence.
6. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
7. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
8. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
9. You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
10 You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.
Lincoln did say this about government
The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves — in their separate, and individual capacities.
–July 1, 1854 [?] Fragment on Government
The reason President Obama missed that qoute…Lincoln NEVER SAID IT…
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/l/lincoln-quotes.htm