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“These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert to fleece the people, and now that they have got into a quarrel with themselves, we are called upon to appropriate the people's money to settle the quarrel.”

— Abraham Lincoln

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Live wording check · 2026-10-24

These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert to fleece the people, and now that they have got into a quarrel with themselves, we are called upon to appropriate the people's money to settle the quarrel. Citation: Speech to Illinois legislature (January 1837); This is "Lincoln's First Reported Speech", found in the Sangamo Journal (28 January 1837) according to McClure's Magazine (March 1896); also in Lincoln's Complete Works (1905) ed. by Nicolay and Hay, Vol. 1, p. 24 Listed on https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln (CC BY-SA)
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Wikiquote: Abraham Lincoln
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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
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Abraham Lincoln (n.d.)
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(Abraham Lincoln, n.d.)

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