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
Freedom is not the right to do what we want, but what we ought
Interpretation
True freedom involves responsibility, emphasizing that our actions should align with moral and ethical obligations.
This quote by Abraham Lincoln expresses the idea that freedom is not merely about indulging in our desires and whims, but rather about understanding and fulfilling our responsibilities towards others and society. It challenges the notion of freedom as a limitless license to act without consideration, instead highlighting that true liberty comes with the conscious choice to do what is right and necessary.
In practice
In a debate about civil liberties, to emphasize the importance of responsible action.
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.
Sir, 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.
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
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.
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.
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.
Down in the city are the nice houses and the so-so houses and the lovers making out in dark yards and the babies crying for their moms, and I wonder if, other than Jesus, has this ever happened before. Maybe it happens all the time. Maybe there's angry dead all over, hiding in rooms, covered with blankets, bossing around their scared, embarrassed relatives. Because how would we know?
The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself.
It is always interesting to see people in dead earnest, from whatever cause, and earthquakes make everybody earnest.
And all that weirdness isn't just going on outside. It's in you too, right now, growing in the dark like magic mushrooms. Call it the Thing in the Cellar. Call it the Blow Lunch Factor. Call it the Loony Tunes File. I think of it as my private dinosaur, huge, slimy, and mindless, stumbling around in the stinking swamp of my subconscious, never finding a tar pit big enough to hold it.
When I got religion, I found some work to do to benefit somebody.
The way we measure productivity is flawed. People checking their BlackBerry over dinner is not the measure of productivity.
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