Great Abraham Lincoln Quotes

[Liz Rosenthal]

(08-11-2013 09:47 AM)Matt Macoubrie Wrote:  The conference went great, I cannot remember the quote that I used, but it was something on the line of how though never has a democracy lasted long, the United States people will triumph and overcome difficulties to become that first democratic nation to last forever!

Where is this quote from? To me, it sounds like something somebody made up after the fact. It's hard for me to believe that Lincoln would make such a declaration, especially not in the 1850s or 60s, when it was not at all clear whether representative government could continue. This question was the key to so many of Lincoln's speeches and writings - even going back to his 1838 Lyceum speech. Also, this quote seems to be more concerned with American glory than with democratic government, and I'm pretty sure that Lincoln was not concerned with American glory in and of itself. He was concerned about keeping America going as a democracy for the sake of the American people *and* to give a beacon of hope to people around the world living under despotism or less than ideal governmental systems, that they could throw off their shackles, too. It appears to me that he hoped America could lead by example, and that was hard to do while slavery still existed. Finally, Lincoln was a realistic man and politician. The idea of any government lasting forever, let alone a democratic one, sounds a little too pie-in-the-sky for Lincoln to have espoused.