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Upon this subject, the habits of our whole species fall into three great classes--useful labour, useless labour and idleness. Of these the first only is meritorious; and to it all the products of labour rightfully belong; but the two latter, while they exist, are heavy pensioners upon the first, robbing it of a large portion of it's just rights. The only remedy for this is to, as far as possible, drive useless labour and idleness out of existence.
Abraham Lincoln
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Lincoln emphasizes the importance of productive work while criticizing idleness and unproductive labor.

In this quote, Abraham Lincoln reflects on human productivity and classifies labor into three categories: useful, useless, and idle. He argues that only useful work is commendable, as it creates value, while useless labor and idleness detract from society by consuming resources without contributing. To improve society, he advocates for minimizing activity that does not yield productive results since it undermines the efforts of those who contribute meaningfully.

Themes

LaborIdlenessProductivityWorkValue

In practice

Example use cases

Using this quote in a discussion about work ethics in a motivational seminar.

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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.
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