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“I believe it is an established maxim in morals that he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false, is guilty of falsehood; and the accidental truth of the assertion, does not justify or excuse him.”

— Abraham Lincoln

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Live wording check · 2026-10-24

I believe it is an established maxim in morals that he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false, is guilty of falsehood; and the accidental truth of the assertion, does not justify or excuse him. Citation: Letter to Allen N. Ford (11 August 1846), reported in Roy Prentice Basler, ed., Abraham Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings (1990 [1946]) Listed on https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln (CC BY-SA)
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Source

Title
Wikiquote: Abraham Lincoln
Type
Wikiquote (CC BY-SA) · Secondary source
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Bibliography entry
Lincoln, Abraham. (n.d.). Wikiquote: Abraham Lincoln. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln
Quotation citation
Abraham Lincoln (n.d.)
In-text citation
(Abraham Lincoln, n.d.)

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Provenance: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln