In 1992, in his speech to the Republican Convention, Ronald Reagan listed the “Ten Cannots” for our nation.
In that speech he credited Abraham Lincoln as the author of this list of “Cannots”, but they were actually written and published by Reverend William Boetcker in 1942 in his leaflet entitled “Committee for Constitutional Government”. The confusion regarding the authorship stemmed from the numerous Abe Lincoln quotes found on the leaflet, but these crucial “Cannots” were authored by Reverend Boetcker.
After you read these, print them out, write them down, teach them to your children, because they are true, so very true, but, sadly, almost all forgotten in our nation today.
- 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.