Lincoln's Kindness to His Brother
Story★★★★One of the most meaningful letters Lincoln ever wrote was one which he wrote to his brother after he had received a request for money to help him out of a finan- cial hole. Abraham Lincoln rephed, “Each time you have asked me for money, you have said that ‘this will be enough to see us through all right,’ and each time you have come back for more. Now I am proposing that I shall add one dollar to each dollar which you earn be- tween now and the first of May.
Iam not being unkind to you; this is the climax of my kindness.” You see how thoughtfully Lincoln was giving, how carefully and con- scientiously he had thought through the problem of that shiftless brother, how he had matched his own ingenuity with the difficulties of the situation and had entered into the task of teaching that brother by slow steps the depend- ability of honest worthiness.
The point
Abraham Lincoln's response to his brother's repeated financial requests demonstrates how conditional generosity can teach responsibility and encourage self-reliance and work.