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Wednesday, August 03, 2005

A Story Of Misattribution

“You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.”

That quote is often attributed to Abraham Lincoln, and I confess I have put those words in his mouth as well. I learn today- finally- that he never said such a thing. The line actually comes from William J. H. Boetcker, a Presbyterian clergyman who published a 1916 pamphlet (pamphlets were hip in the ’10s) called The Ten Cannots.

You cannot bring about prosperity discouraging thrift.

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

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

You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.

You cannot further brotherhood of men by inciting class hatred.

You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.

You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man’s initiative.

You cannot really help men by having the government tax them to do for them what they can and should do for themselves.

The story is this: It was the run-up to FDR v. Dewey, and the New Deal Democrat finally, truly, seemed vulnerable. In 1942, the Committee for Constitutional Government, which I presume was one of those ephemeral coteries spurned by history but for amusing ancillary anecdotes such as this one, published many leaflets in support of strict constructionism and general conservatism. One of them was called, “Lincoln on Limitations.” It was two-sided. On one side was an actual statement from Honest Abe and on the other was Boetcker’s ten dicta. Both were properly cited, but the title of the document led people to believe both panes were from the mouth of Lincoln. The misattribution was picked up in another printing, and carried on into history thereafter.

Posted on August 3, 2005 09:23 AM. Permalink