Words of wisdom from Honest Abe

It has been said that wisdom is knowing what to do next. In every situation in life, if we knew the right course to take or the best decision to make, we would be a wise person.

In my lifetime, no doubt the best teacher has been experience. Not just my experiences, but the experiences of others as well.

Former President Abraham Lincoln once said, “Prosperity is the fruit of labor. Property is desirable. It is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.

“Let not him who is homeless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.”

These words were spoken by President Lincoln on March 21, 1864 and have been printed for distribution by the Will Rogers Rotary Club of Tulsa.

Today, Lincoln is considered by many to be one of the greatest American presidents. The dark days of the Civil War only served to enhance and highlight the true character and fiber of this man.

Sometimes we may wonder what makes a president or any leader for that matter really great. In some respects people are like metal, but to know for sure what they are made of they have to be tested. In the case of our nation’s presidents, some served during a period of history when our nation was faced with great adversity and challenge.

The events that led up to and during the Civil War certainly gave Abraham Lincoln an opportunity to prove what kind of man he was. It is sometimes said that success is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

The point that is being made in this column is simple and straightforward. In our nation today, we need more people like Abraham Lincoln in all walks of life who possess the character, commitment, honesty, insights, purpose and a true perspective of the really important things in life.

In every community throughout this land, we need more men and women who cannot be bought, who will not sell out and who truly understand what all Abraham Lincoln stood for.

Take a moment and go back to the beginning of this column. Read one more time the quotation by Abraham Lincoln and give it some serious thought. Then you will see the basis for much of the success that the United States of America enjoys today. Among them are physical labor, the importance of property, the opportunity to achieve financial success and the incentive for the individual and for business and industry to succeed.

President Lincoln’s admonishment to the American people to “Let not him who is homeless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built” is the key.

We must always constantly strive to maintain the opportunity for all Americans to build and to foster character values and integrity, especially in our nation’s youth so they will want to defend and preserve our way of life.

Martin Luther once said, “The prosperity of a country depends not on the abundance of its revenues nor on the strength of its fortifications, nor on the beauty of its public buildings, but it consists in the number of its men of enlightenment and character.”

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