Those Who Deny Freedom To Others

This is one of Lincoln's most thoroughly documented quotes, drawn from a letter written on April 6, 1859, to Henry L. Pierce and other Boston Republicans who had invited him to a Jefferson birthday celebration. The full sentence reads: "Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it." The letter is preserved in the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (Vol. 3) and held at multiple archives including the Smithsonian and the University of Michigan. Lincoln was making the case that the Republican Party — not the Democrats — was the true heir to Thomas Jefferson's principles.