“You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”
-Abraham Lincoln

Potentially polarizing words from one of America’s greatest Presidents and champions of individual rights.

So, let’s take each of these apart – in today’s context.

1. True strength comes from resolve. It comes from working hard, strengthening your weaknesses, and becoming the best version of yourself.

2. In this country, we have employees and we have employers. Both are equally as important, but we can never forget that without the employer, we do not have the employee. Without the entrepreneur, we do not have all of the amazing innovation that makes us so great. Without the freedom to create and to build and to innovate, we don’t have all of the amazing things that the future will provide.

3. Those that have should always help those that do not have. However, you cannot take so much from those that have where the motivation to help those that have not is eliminated.

4. The old adage says that you can give a man a fish and you feed them for a day, or you teach them how to fish, and you feed them for a lifetime. I see this with my children, and it’s a change that we’ve made in our household very deliberately, pretty recently, to ensure that my kids will always be able to provide for themselves.

5. A little assistance is okay. Giving guidance is okay. Helping people be better is okay, but constantly doing for them without giving them the ability to do for themselves is a true handicap.

None of these are political statements, but I do think they are pretty important ways to live. And it’s amazing that some 160 years ago, these statements were uttered by Abraham Lincoln – and still hold true today!

-J.D.