Welcome login | signup
Language en es fr
OccupyForum

Forum Post: Wisdom from Lincoln

Posted 12 years ago on Feb. 14, 2012, 2:04 p.m. EST by asauti (-113) from Port Orchard, WA
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.

You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.

You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves."

-- Abraham Lincoln

Another quote:

"It is 'the poor' who habitually support candidates who promise to provide them with "wealth and care", yet 'the poor' continue to remain impoverished even though their representatives have achieved office."

-- Anonymous

17 Comments

17 Comments


Read the Rules
[-] 2 points by beautifulworld (23771) 12 years ago

Is it destroying the rich or weakening the rich to want them to share the profits that they earn in large part from the labor of their workers, by paying said workers a higher wage?

[-] 2 points by epa1nter (4650) from Rutherford, NJ 12 years ago

The period in which the top marginal tax rate was 90% witnessed the longest, greatest and most sustained period of economic growth in American history.

[-] 0 points by asauti (-113) from Port Orchard, WA 12 years ago

Are you saying that each individual U.S. citizen, during the time of Lincoln, was taxed at a rate of 90% on their income?

[-] 2 points by epa1nter (4650) from Rutherford, NJ 12 years ago

Read what I wrote. I said that the TOP marginal rate was at 90%. The period was post WWII. Lincoln was great, but he was no economist. Laissez Faire ushered in the age of the Robber Barons.

[Removed]

[-] 2 points by shield (222) 12 years ago

Nice quotes. Too bad Lincoln unlawfully re-incorporated the District of Columbia as a private corporation and got us into this whole mess in the first place :/

[-] 0 points by youngblood (1) from Eureka, CA 12 years ago

You talking bad about a founding father makes you look like an idiot.

[-] 1 points by shield (222) 12 years ago

Not gonna lie. This made my day.

[-] 1 points by Dell (-168) 12 years ago

who's the idiot? Lincoln was not a founding father lol!

[-] 1 points by TitusMoans (2451) from Boulder City, NV 12 years ago

Lincoln also suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus; when that failed to accomplish his purposes he declared Martial Law arresting thirteen-thousand people in the process; then using his power as Commander and Chief issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in the Confederate States without Congressional approval.

Is this the same Lincoln, whose quotations you hold in such awe?

[-] 0 points by asauti (-113) from Port Orchard, WA 12 years ago

Is the simple act of posting someone's quotes a declaration of "awe"? If so, I would be better off to not "display the truth" of any Hitler quotes.

I would imagine that those slaves who were given their freedom hold Lincoln in awe.

[-] 1 points by bensdad (8977) 12 years ago

Government of the people, by the rich, for the corporations .....................

[-] 0 points by asauti (-113) from Port Orchard, WA 12 years ago

It is a comforting thought to believe in a "pure, moral civilization" or a "heaven". It is a noble goal to seek "utopia".

However, history has proven this to not be possible. It is a "cats eat the rats" world and will most likely always be so.

Iran is next on the list. They are a sovereign nation and are not yet a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The elite would like little more than to bring them in, under that umbrella. And serious conflict is "right around the corner". If you watch and listen to the mainstream media, they are slowly getting "the masses" used to the idea of yet another invasion.

[-] 1 points by bensdad (8977) 12 years ago

I don't know what your comment is doing here
But I do not think will will invade Iran
I see:
1 A religious maniac running the counrty
2 A megalomaniac threatening world peace
3 A very large number of Iranian youth who love America
I am betting on 3

[-] 0 points by asauti (-113) from Port Orchard, WA 12 years ago

I hope you are right and that we do not invade Iran.

[-] 0 points by asauti (-113) from Port Orchard, WA 12 years ago

My response was to your post of "Government of the people, by the rich, for the corporations".

My follow-up to that was to sort of say: "And you were expecting something different?"

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 12 years ago

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich."

destroying the rich won't get them food, shelter and healthcare

[-] 0 points by Dell (-168) 12 years ago

good post