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wedrifid comments on Rationality Quotes June 2013 - Less Wrong
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This would seem to further weaken the quote in as much as it is evidence that the tactic doesn't work.
I don't know in what context Lincoln said this (if he really said it), but the tactic worked very well for him at the convention in the summer of 1860. (In those days, the conventions would start without people knowing who would be nominated. But often you had an idea, and Lincoln was a long shot.) All of the other candidates then joined Lincoln's cabinet (his ‘Team of Rivals’).
DId not work in one notable case, to which the quote may or may not have originally been applied.
Of course it doesn't apply all the time.
Just because your enemies will not always be your friends does not mean it is useless to TRY to convert them to be one's friends. It is, as most things, a bet. One must know, beforehand, if it is WORTH it to try.
I would say it's a useful quote because it provides an alternative to the usual "smash them as soon as they oppose you" deal going on.
Nevertheless, the statement to which I replied remains evidence against rather than evidence for. You are of course welcome to support the sentiment despite the anecdote in question---such things aren't typically considered to be strong evidence either way.
It may also be better than the even more common "deal with them as you can, but don't expect they'll ever be on your side".