"Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it."
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Abraham Lincoln
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Theodore Roosevelt
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Ronald Reagan
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j f kennedy
This quote is from Abraham Lincoln's 1855 letter to Joshua Speed, where he expressed his moral opposition to slavery. Lincoln consistently argued that those who deny freedom to others forfeit their own claim to it. Theodore Roosevelt, Reagan, and Kennedy were all later presidents who made important statements, but this specific quote is distinctly Lincoln's moral philosophy on slavery.
This quote is from Abraham Lincoln, reflecting his stance against slavery and for universal liberty — the idea that denying freedom to others forfeits one's own moral claim to it under a 'just God.' It's consistent with Lincoln's rhetoric on freedom and the Civil War. Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and JFK are known for other famous lines on liberty and duty, but this particular phrasing (with its 'just God' framing) is attributed to Lincoln, not them.