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Quote#Freedom

The principles of Jefferson are the definitions and axioms of free…

Quote byAbraham Lincoln · 1809–1865

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Letter to Henry L. Pierce (1859), p. 376.

English (original)

The principles of Jefferson are the definitions and axioms of free society. And yet they are denied and evaded, with no small show of success. One dashingly calls them ”glittering generalities.” Another bluntly calls them “self-evident lies.” And others insidiously argue that they apply to “superior races.”

— Abraham Lincoln

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