Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.

This saying expresses a bluntly democratic idea: political power ultimately rests with voters, and the consequences of their choices—good or bad—are theirs to bear. The homely “fire” and “blisters” metaphor frames electoral decisions as practical, lived experience rather than abstract theory: if people knowingly choose policies or leaders that harm them, the resulting pain is a form of self-inflicted lesson. In quotation culture it is often invoked to defend electoral legitimacy while criticizing voter judgment. However, because the attribution to Lincoln is doubtful, the quote’s significance is best treated as a later piece of political folk wisdom rather than a reliable window into Lincoln’s own rhetoric or views.