FACT CHECK: Did Abraham Lincoln Say, ā€˜Things May Come To Those Who Wait, But Only The Things Left By Those Who Hustleā€™?

Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Editor

A post on Facebook claims that former President Abraham Lincoln once stated, ā€œThings may come to those who wait ā€¦ but only the things left by those who hustle.ā€

Verdict: False

There is no evidence that Lincoln said this. The Abraham Lincoln Association debunked it in 2003.

Fact Check:

ā€œFour score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.ā€

Those words, with which Lincoln opened the Gettysburg Address, are just some of the many that can be found online attributed to the 16th American president. Yet, unlike others, thereā€™s clear evidence that Lincoln actually said them.

However, the same cannot be said for the quote attributed to Lincoln in the Facebook post. The Daily Caller News Foundation searched Lincolnā€™s writings, as well as his recorded speeches, but found nothing matching the statement. (RELATED: Did Abraham Lincoln Say, ā€˜To Sin By Silence When They Should Protest, Makes Cowards Of Menā€™?)

ā€œI can find no evidence that Lincoln having [sic] said or written this,ā€ said Daniel Worthington, director of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln, in an email to the DCNF. ā€œNo doubt a mis-attribution.ā€

James Cornelius, an editor and secretary at the Abraham Lincoln Association, agreed that the quote wasnā€™t authentic, writing in an email to the DCNF, ā€œThis one is not Lincoln at all.ā€

The Abraham Lincoln Association debunked the quote in a 2003 newsletter. The article notes that, according to ā€œA Dictionary of Americanisms,ā€ the word ā€œhustleā€ meant ā€œto get upā€ or ā€œobtainā€ during Lincolnā€™s lifetime, instead of being a colloquialism for hard work, as it can be used today.

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Brad Sylvester

Fact Check Editor
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