Abraham Lincoln’s Letter To His Brother-in-Law

Today on Dave Ramsey’s radio show, he mentioned a letter Abraham Lincoln wrote to his brother-in-law in response to a request for money. The amount of $80 seems like a small amount these days, but it’s probably the equivalent of someone asking for around $10,000 or so today. Here are some excerpts of the complete letter:

Your request for eighty dollars, I do not think it best to comply with now. At the various times when I have helped you a little, you have said to me, “We can get along very well now,” but in a very short time I find you in the same difficulty again.

It sounds like his brother-in-law was one of those “why me?” people. You know the kind–everything always seems to be happening to them, and they never happen to anything.

You are now in need of some ready money; and what I propose is, that you shall go to work, “tooth and nail,” for somebody who will give you money for it.

And that part just makes me laugh. I recommend reading the whole letter. It’s funny that the same problems and the same type of people seem to have existed back then.

You have always been kind to me, and I do not now mean to be unkind to you. On the contrary, if you will but follow my advice, you will find it worth more than eight times eighty dollars to you.

Icing on the cake, huh?

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