Abraham Lincoln quarterly. [Vol. 5, no. 8]

News and Comment
What Did Lincoln Say?
So many letters have come to the Association requesting information concerning the authenticity of certain quotations attributed to Lincoln that the editor believes the Quarterly may
be the proper medium for giving what information we have.
The attributed quotations are as follows:
"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 establish sound security on borrowed money. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You
cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by
doing for them what they could and should do for themselves."
Another version sent to us by the Library of the Public Relations Department of General Motors Corporation reads as
follows:
"Words of Wisdom
"You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help strong men by tearing down big men.
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 help men permanently by doing for them what
they could and should do for themselves."
In style there is nothing in Lincoln's writings or speeches
which remotely resembles this paragraph, or string of sentences,
but there are in a definite context portions of ideas approximating a few of them, as follows:
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