I am like a man so busy in letting rooms in one end of his house, that he can't stop to put out the fire that is burning the other.
Abraham LincolnRead
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The preservation of America depends not on external threats, but on the integrity and actions of its own citizens.
This quote by Abraham Lincoln emphasizes the idea that a nation's greatest threats often come from within rather than from outside forces. Lincoln suggests that the erosion of liberties and freedoms is a result of complacency and actions of the people, not external enemies, serving as a warning for citizens to remain vigilant and uphold their values to preserve their nation.
Themes
FreedomSelf-DestructionVigilanceInternal ThreatsIntegrity
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about civic responsibility, this quote can highlight the importance of active citizenship.
More from Abraham Lincoln
All quotes βSir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.
Abraham LincolnRead
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
Abraham LincolnRead
How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.
Abraham LincolnRead
For it has been said, all that a man hath will he give for his life; and while all contribute of their substance the soldier puts his life at stake, and often yields it up in his country's cause. The highest merit, then is due to the soldier.
Abraham LincolnRead
And having thus chosen our course, without guile, and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear, and with manly hearts.
Abraham LincolnRead
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Progress without the reasoned freedom to think and act is regression to slavery.
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Philosophic meditation is an accomplishment by which I attain Being and my own self, not impartial thinking which studies a subject with indifference.
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It is a profoundly erroneous truism, repeated by all copy books and by eminent people when they are making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking of what we are doing. The precise opposite is the case. Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them.
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Who is pure in heart? Only those who have surrendered their hearts completely to Jesus that he may reign in them alone. Only those whose hearts are undefiled by their own evil--and by their own virtues too. The pure in heart have a child-like simplicity like Adam before the fall, innocent alike of good and evil: their hearts are not ruled by their conscience, but by the will of Jesus.
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