• You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
• You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
• You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.
• You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
• You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
• You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
• You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
• You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
• You cannot build character and courage by destroying men’s initiative and independence.
• And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.

These statements are generally what I understand and why I vote the way I vote &  promote both independence & interdependence.

These quotations are sometimes refereed to as Lincoln’s 10 “Cannots” – but it is wildly understood that where the spirit is what Lincoln believed, it is not what he said. These were written in 1916 by William J. H. Boetcker [wikipedia]

Thanks to John “Hollywood” for sending me a reminder of this.