GOP tweets quote wrongly attributed to Lincoln

[DonViejo]

Source: The Hill


BY REBECCA SAVRANSKY - 02/12/17 01:42 PM EST

The Republican National Committee on Sunday tweeted a quote wrongly attributed to Abraham Lincoln in a post celebrating the former president's birthday.

"His leadership brought us together; his legacy inspires us still. Happy Birthday, President Lincoln!" the tweet on the GOP read. The tweet included an image with the quote: "And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."

Link to tweet

According to Quote Investigator, there is no "substantive evidence that Lincoln used the expression." The website said it found the earliest use of the adage in an advertisement for a 1947 book by Edward J. Stieglitz.

Stieglitz was credited with using the phrase in a 1949 column in the Hartford Courant newspaper.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/319147-gop-tweets-quote-wrongly-attributed-to-lincoln

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[trusty elf]

1. .....

[img][/img]

[jpak]

8. LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!1111

[anneboleyn]

11. Omg -- lmfao @ that thing. The rat-faced SCROTUS!

[underpants]

2. Yeah but maybe Abe said it when he was playing golf with Trump this weekend

I heard the played golf. That's what I heard. Ernie Els was the third. I think Frederick Douglass caddied or something

[mwooldri]

3. This is good advice from "Abraham Lincoln".

[Achilleaze]

4. If 'Honest Abe' were alive today he'd be #1 on the KGOP enemies list

...and he would be blowing chunks as he heard republicans spew their twisted, depraved 'alternative facts.'

[Renew Deal]

9. Same with that Middle East socialist Jesus

He'd top the enemies list

[Achilleaze]

12. + 1,000

[keithbvadu2]

5. Official republican position - Lincoln was our nation's greatest leader

Official republican position - Lincoln was our nation's greatest leader

Thank God republicans won that war back in the 1860s.

From the 2004 GOP Platform

"One hundred and fifty years ago, Americans who had gathered to protest the expansion of slavery gave birth to a political Party that would save the Union - the Republican Party.

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln of Illinois carried the Republican banner in the Presidential election and was elected the Party's first President. He became our nation's greatest leader … and one of our Party's greatest heroes. "

[dhill926]

6. fucking morans.....

[cojoel]

7. The Beatles version

And in the end the love you take
is equal to the love you make

[chelsea0011]

10. I'm sure the Wizard of Oz said that first.

[stuffmatters]

13. Sounds more like Mae West than Abe Lincoln

"It's not the men in your life, it's the life in your men."
Abe Lincoln never would have said their quote anyway. It's an insult to him (and Mae, and Adlai Stephenson and this cited Steiglitz)

[CBHagman]

14. To be fair, there are a LOT of misattributions floating around.

I'm at the point where I look for confirmation of everything, especially after that incident where the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp honoring Maya Angelou and attributing a quote to her that actually had come from someone else. There were already books in print with the same mistake, so though the USPS should have done better, they clearly weren't the only confused souls.

Quote Investigator is a boon to all of us who want to zero in on facts and trace steps.