I went to a presentation where they used this quote, which they said was from Abraham Lincoln:

Other means may succeed; this cannot fail.

I am going to be giving a presentation about change and thought that quote would be perfect. To me it says that there are other means to solve the problem, but, regardless, we can't fail with this problem-solving attempt. That is just what I wanted to say.

However, I thought I'd better check to be sure the quote was accurate. My Bartlett's had the quote from lincoln's Second Annual Message to Congress. Here is what the quote actually is:

Other means may succeed; this could not fail.

To me the latter is different. It now says that while other means may succeed, what we are doing won't fail. That is entirely different to me.

Some people agree with me; others think they are saying the same thing. Your thoughts?