Words Lincoln Said

[Matt Macoubrie]

So while substitute teaching I ran across these words in the hallway, and wanted to know when and where they were said and in what context as well:

"Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle"

I hope they are true words of Lincoln because if they were not I would be ashamed that in LINCOLN, Nebraska, we can't even get a correct quote in a school!

[LincolnMan]

Without checking the source- because I'm at work- I'd say it is not Lincoln. Roger. Can you check? I don't think Lincoln used the word "hustle."

[RJNorton]

Matt, Bill is right. There is no authentic source for this quote. It is all over the Internet, but there is no source. I have researched this quote since 1996 and have always drawn a blank when it comes to a legitimate source. I have included it on my misnomer page here.

[Gene C]

Here is another reason why he probably didn't say it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj23_nDFSfE

[L Verge]

Yeah, way to go disco! Where's the disco ball hanging from the ceiling?

[Eva Elisabeth]

May I ask for comments on "I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky"?
(It's not on the list, but all I could find is that in a September 22, 1861 letter to Orville Browning, Lincoln wrote: "I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game.")

[RJNorton]

Eva, during the times I have researched this quote the closest I could ever find is the same as what you found.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Many thanks!

[Matt Macoubrie]

Way to go education system!!!!!! I am definitely writing them a letter!!!

[Gene C]

I am currently reading an older book that has this quote from the New York Tribune of March 31, 1863 attributed to a speech Lincoln gave.

" 'Insomuch as we know that by His divine law nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people.'

" 'We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown; but we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too .proud to pray to the God that made us:
" 'It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.'

Did Lincoln really say this?

[RJNorton]

Yes, although I am thinking William Seward most likely wrote it. (It was not a speech, Gene; it was a written proclamation.)

http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/linc...s/fast.htm

[Gene C]

Thanks Roger.

I'm also currently reading Walter Stahr's book, "Seward".
Although I see Seward's name (along with Lincoln's) at the bottom of the proclamation, I haven't got the impression that Seward would refer to God and religious matters as much as they are evident in this proclamation. I will have to go back and reread the section when this occurred. The writing style seems to fit Seward more than Lincoln, while the ideas expressed seem to be more Lincoln than Seward. Who knows? Hard to tell what is really going on inside someone's head, their thoughts, ideas and feelings.

[Gene C]

This from Seward by Walter Stahr, p380...

"In late September or early October, Seward interrupted Lincoln one morning in his office. According to Frederick, the conversation went somethin like this: 'They say, Mr. President, that we are stealing away the rights of the states. So I have come today to advise you that there is another state right that I think we ought to steal'. What right, Lincoln asked, did Seward now want to take? 'The right to name Thanksgiving Day! 'Because the holiday was designated by several governors, it was observed on different days in different states. Would it not make more sense to have a single, national day? Seward presented Lincoln with a draft proclamation reciting the blessings the United States had enjoyed in the past year: bountiful harvests, domestic prosperity, and increasing population. Using Seward's draft, Lincoln designated the last Thursday of November as a day of thanksgiving, the first such national Thanksgiving."

The proclamation seems to have been more intended towards a national fast day, prayer and repentance and has evolved into day focused more on Thanksgiving of material blessing.

Either way it seems sometimes that our society has shifted back to the same societal attitude that Lincoln was concerned about when he wrote
" We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

History does repeat itself. This seems to be a sentiment that our more liberal sections of our press, entertainment industry, schools and politicians want to ignore or ridicule. The consequences seem to make new headlines every week.