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A Capacity, And Taste, For Reading, Gives Access To Whatever Has Already Been Discovered By Others. It Is The Key, Or One Of The Keys, To The Already Solved Problems. And Not Only So. It Gives A Relish, And Facility, For Successfully Pursuing The [yet] Unsolved Ones.

-Abraham Lincoln

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A Capacity, And Taste,

Abraham Lincoln

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A Capacity, And Taste, For Reading, Gives Access To Whatever Has Already Been Discovered By Others. It Is The Key, Or One Of The Keys, To The Already Solved Problems. And Not Only So. It Gives A Relish, And Facility, For Successfully Pursuing The [yet] Unsolved Ones.

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More From Abraham Lincoln

Persuasion, Kind, Unassuming Persuasion, Should Be Adopted To Influence The Conduct Of Men. The Opposite Course Would Be A Reversal Of Human Nature, Which Is God's Decree And Can Never Be Reversed.

Towering Genius Distains A Beaten Path.

My Father Taught Me To Work, But Not To Love It. I Never Did Like To Work, And I Don't Deny It. I'd Rather Read, Tell Stories, Crack Jokes, Talk, Laugh -- Anything But Work.

I Believe The Bible Is The Best Gift God Ever Gave To Man. All The Good From The Savior Of The World Is Communicated To Us Through That Book." On A Personal Spiritual Note, Lincoln Confessed, "i Have Been Driven Many Times To My Knees With The Overwhelming Conviction, That I Had Nowhere Else To Go.

All That Harms Labor Is Treason To America.

Do You Think We Choose The Times Into Which We Are Born? Or Do We Fit The Times We Are Born Into?

Thus Let Bygones Be Bygones. Let Past Differences, As Nothing Be.

I Cannot Imagine Anyone Looking At The Sky And Denying God.

The Legalized Liquor Business Is The Tragedy Of Our Civilization. Alcohol Is The Greatest And Most Blighting Curse Of Our Modern Civilization. The Liquor Seller Is Simply And Only A Privileged Malefactor - A Criminal.

Never Change Horses In Midstream.

Our Progress In Degeneracy Appears To Me To Be Pretty Rapid.

Next To Creating A Life The Finest Thing A Man Can Do Is Save One.

Well, I Suppose You Know That Men Will Stand A Good Deal When They Are Flattered.

I Have Always Found That Mercy Bears Richer Fruits Than Strict Justice.

Gratefully Accepting The Proffered Honor, [to Inscribe A New Legal Work To Him] I Give The Leave, Begging Only That The Inscription May Be In Modest Terms, Not Representing Me As A Man Of Great Learning, Or A Very Extraordinary One In Any Respect.

I Do Not Deny The Possibility That The People May Err In An Election; But If They Do, The True [cure] Is In The Next Election, And Not In The Treachery Of The Person Elected.

When You Have Got A Ticket To Send, And You're Not A Top Costumer, It's Best Not To Waste Your Time.

If You Wish To Win A Man Over To Your Ideas, First Make Him Your Friend.

I Am For Those Means Which Will Give The Greatest Good To The Greatest Number.

Lonely Men Seek Companionship. Lonely Women Sit At Home And Wait. They Never Meet.

Do Not Destroy That Immortal Emblem Of Humanity, The Declaration Of Independence.

There's No Honorable Way To Kill, No Gentle Way To Destroy. There Is Nothing Good In War. Except Its Ending.

My Great Concern Is Not Whether You Have Failed, But Whether You Are Content With Your Failure.

Received As I Am By The Members Of A Legislature The Majority Of Whom Do Not Agree With Me In Political Sentiments, I Trust That I May Have Their Assistance In Piloting The Ship Of State Through This Voyage, Surrounded By Perils As It Is; For If It Should Suffer Wreck Now, There Will Be No Pilot Ever Needed For Another Voyage.

Nothing Valuable Can Be Lost By Taking Time.

Adversity Does Not Make Us Frail; It Only Shows Us How Frail We Are.

I Freely Acknowledge Myself The Servant Of The People, According To The Bond Of Service - The United States Constitution; And That, As Such, I Am Responsible To Them.

It Doesn't Mater If You're A Slow Walker, So Long As You Don't Walk Backwards.

Neither Party Expected For The War, The Magnitude, Or The Duration, Which It Has Already Attained. Neither Anticipated That The Cause Of The Conflict Might Cease With, Or Even Before, The Conflict Itself Should Cease.

You Have Confidence In Yourself, Which Is Valuable, If Not An Indispensable Quality.

If You Are Going To Fight, Don't Let Them Talk You Into Negotiating. But, If You Are Going To Negotiate, Don't Let Them Talk You Into Fighting.

If Slavery Is Not Wrong, Nothing Is Wrong.

Character Is Like A Tree, And Reputation Is Like Its Shadow.

That I Am Not A Member Of Any Christian Church, Is True; But I Have Never Denied The Truth Of The Scriptures; And I Have Never Spoken With Intentional Disrepect Of Religion In General, Or Of Any Denomination Of Christians In Particular.

Every Man Is Said To Have His Peculiar Ambition. Whether It Be True Or Not, I Can Say For One That I Have No Other So Great As That Of Being Truly Esteemed Of My Fellow Men, By Rendering Myself Worthy Of Their Esteem.

We Should Avoid Planting And Cultivating Too Many Thorns In The Bosom Of Society.

Everyone Likes A Good Quote - Don't Forget To Share.

Trusting In Him, Who Can Go With Me, And Remain With You And Be Every Where For Good, Let Us Confidently Hope That All Will Yet Be Well. To His Care Commending You, As I Hope In Your Prayers You Will Commend Me, I Bid You An Affectionate Farewell.

The Trouble With Hooker Is That He's Got His Headquarters Where His Hindquarters Aught To Be.

Without The Constitution And The Union, We Could Not Have Attained The Result; But Even These, Are Not The Primary Cause Of Our Great Prosperity. There Is Something Back Of These, Entwining Itself More Closely About The Human Heart. That Something, Is The Principle Of "liberty To All" The Principle That Clears The Path For All-gives Hope To All-and, By Consequence, Enterprize [sic], And Industry To All.

The Government Will Support You To The Utmost Of Its Ability, Which Is Neither More Nor Less Than It Has Done And Will Do For Allcommanders.

One Generation Passeth Away And Another Generation Cometh, But The Earth Abideth Forever.

Man Is Not The Only Animal Who Labors; But He Is The Only One Who Improves His Workmanship.

In The End, It's Not The Years In Your Life That Count. It's The Life In Your Years.

I Will Say, Then, That I Am Not, Nor Ever Have Been, In Favor Of Bringing About In Any Way The Social And Political Equality Of The White And Black Races: That I Am Not, Nor Ever Have Been, In Favor Of Making Voters Or Jurors Of Negroes, Nor Of Qualifying Them To Hold Office, Nor To Intermarry With White People.

Surely He Intends Some Great Good To Follow This Mighty Convulsion Which No Mortal Could Make, And No Mortal Could Stay.

These Men Ask For Just The Same Thing, Fairness, And Fairness Only. This, So Far As In My Power, They, And All Others, Shall Have.

I Understand That It Is A Maxim Of Law, That A Poor Plea May Be A Good Plea To A Bad Declaration.

One Eighth Of The Whole Population Were Colored Slaves, Not Distributed Generally Over The Union, But Localized In The Southern Part Of It. These Slaves Constituted A Peculiar And Powerful Interest. All Knew That This Interest Was, Somehow, The Cause Of The War.

With This Honor Devolves Upon You Also A Corresponding Responsibility. As The Country Herein Trusts You, So Under God It Will Sustain You.

My Earlier Views Of The Unsoundness Of The Christian Scheme Of Salvation And The Human Origin Of The Scriptures Have Become Clearer And Stronger With Advancing Years, And I See No Reason For Thinking I Shall Ever Change Them.

All The Armies Of Europe Combined Could Not By Force Make A Track Upon The Blue Ridge, Or Take A Drink From The Ohio. If We Are To Be Destroyed, We Must Do It Ourselves.

If We Exchange One Dollar, We Both Have One Dollar Each. But If We Exchange One Good Thought, We Both Have Two Good Thoughts

As A Nation, We Began By Declaring That 'all Men Are Created Equal.' We Now Practically Read It 'all Men Are Created Equal, Except Negroes.' When The Know-nothings Get Control, It Will Read 'all Men Are Created Equal, Except Negroes, And Foreigners, And Catholics.' When It Comes To This I Should Prefer Emigrating To Some Country Where They Make No Pretense Of Loving Liberty – To Russia, For Instance, Where Despotism Can Be Taken Pure, And Without The Base Alloy Of Hypocrisy.

Let Us Strive On To Finish The Work We Are In.

Liquor May Have Its Defenders, But It Has No Defense.

It Has Been Said That One Bad General Is Better Than Two Good Ones, And The Saying Is True If Taken To Mean No More Than That An Army Is Better Directed By A Single Mind, Though Inferior, Than By Two Superior Ones At Variance And Cross-purposes With Each Other. And The Same Is True In All Joint Operations Wherein Those Engaged Can Have None But A Common End In View And Can Differ Only As To The Choice Of Means. In A Storm At Sea No One On Board Can Wish The Ship To Sink, And Yet Not Unfrequently All Go Down Together Because Too Many Will Direct And No Single Mind Can Be Allowed To Control.

The Cause Of Civil Liberty Must Not Be Surrendered At The End Of One, Or Even One Hundred Defeats.

I Am Very Little Inclined On Any Occasion To Say Anything Unless I Hope To Produce Some Good By It.

Nothing Will Divert Me From My Purpose.

...i Am Exceedingly Anxious That This Union, The Constitution, And The Liberties Of The People Shall Be Perpetuated In Accordance With The Original Idea For Which That Struggle Was Made, And I Shall Be Most Happy Indeed If I Shall Be An Humble Instrument In The Hands Of The Almighty, And Of This, His Almost Chosen People, For Perpetuating The Object Of That Great Struggle.

All That I Am, Or Hope To Be, I Owe To My Angel Mother.

In The Present Civil War It Is Quite Possible That God's Purpose Is Something Different From The Purpose Of Either Party.

No Country Can Sustain, In Idleness, More Than A Small Percentage Of Its Numbers. The Great Majority Must Labor At Something Productive.

The Health You Enjoy Is Largely Your Choice

Take All That You Can Of This Book Upon Reason, And The Balance On Faith, And You Will Live And Die A Happier Man. (when A Skeptic Expressed Surprise To See Him Reading A Bible)

The Matter Of Fees Is Important, Far Beyond The Mere Question Of Bread And Butter Involved. Properly Attended To, Fuller Justice Is Done To Both Lawyer And Client.

I Am Satisfied That When The Almighty Wants Me To Do Or Not Do Any Particular Thing, He Finds A Way Of Letting Me Know It

A Man Watches His Pear-tree Day After Day, Impatient For The Ripening Of The Fruit. Let Him Attempt To Force The Process, And He May Spoil Both Fruit And Tree. But Let Him Patiently Wait, And The Ripe Pear At Length Falls Into His Lap.

Lets Have Faith That Right Makes Might; And In That Faith Let Us, To The End, Dare To Do Our Duty As We Understand It.

Freedom Is The Last, Best Hope Of Earth.

But In A Larger Sense, We Cannot Dedicate, We Cannot Consecrate, We Cannot Hallow This Ground. The Brave Men, Living And Dead, Who Struggled Here, Have Consecrated It, Far Above Our Poor Power To Add Or To Detract. The World Will Little Note, Nor Long Remember What We Say Here, But It Can Never Forget What They Did Here.

I Laugh Because I Must Not Cry, That Is All, That Is All.

The Way For A Young Man To Rise Is To Improve Himself In Every Way He Can, Never Suspecting That Anybody Wishes To Hinder Him.

Knavery And Flattery Are Blood Relations.

Neither Let Us Be Slandered From Our Duty By False Accusations Against Us, Nor Frightened From It By Menaces Of Destruction ... Nor Of Dungeons To Ourselves. Let Us Have Faith That Right Makes Might, And In That Faith, Let Us, To The End, Dare To Do Our Duty As We Understand It.

Anybody Will Do For You, But Not For Me.

There Is A Vague Popular Belief That Lawyers Are Necessarily Dishonest. I Say Vague, Because When We Consider To What Extent Confidence And Honors Are Reposed In And Conferred Upon Lawyers By The People, It Appears Improbable That Their Impression Of Dishonesty Is Very Distinct And Vivid. Yet The Impression Is Common, Almost Universal.

I Repeat The Declaration Made A Year Ago, That 'while I Remain In My Present Position I Shall Not Attempt To Retract Or Modify The Emancipation Proclamation, Nor Shall I Return To Slavery Any Person Who Is Free By The Terms Of That Proclamation, Or By Any Of The Acts Of Congress.' If The People Should, By Whatever Mode Or Means, Make It An Executive Duty To Re-enslave Such Persons, Another, And Not I, Must Be Their Instrument To Perform It.

Don't Pray That God's On Our Side, Pray That We're On His Side.

We Cannot Escape History.

I Am Busily Engaged In The Study Of The Bible. I Believe It Is God's Word Because It Finds Me Where I Am.

I Destroy My Enemy If I Make Him My Friend.

We Must Believe That He Permits It [this War] For Some Wise Purpose Of His Own, Mysterious And Unknown To Us; And Though With Ourlimited Understandings We May Not Be Able To Comprehend It, Yet We Cannot But Believe, That He Who Made The World Still Governs It.

A Fellow Once Came To Me To Ask For An Appointment As A Minister Abroad. Finding He Could Not Get That, He Came Down To Some More Modest Position. Finally, He Asked To Be Made A Tide-waiter. When He Saw He Could Not Get That, He Asked Me For An Old Pair Of Trousers. It Is Sometimes Well To Be Humble.

Towering Genius Disdains A Beaten Path ... It Scorns To Tread In The Footsteps Of Any Predecessor, However Illustrious. It Thirsts For Distinction.

You Say Men Ought To Be Hung For The Way They Are Executing The Law; I Say The Way It Is Being Executed Is Quite As Good As Any Of Its Antecedents. It Is Being Executed In The Precise Way Which Was Intended From The First, Else Why Does No Nebraska Man Express Astonishment Or Condemnation? Poor Reeder Is The Only Public Man Who Has Been Silly Enough To Believe That Anything Like Fairness Was Ever Intended, And He Has Been Bravely Undeceived.

Why Don't You Laugh? If I Did Not Laugh I Should Die, And You Need This Medicine As Much As I Do.

Doubtless You Begin To Understand How Disagreeable It Is To Me To Do A Thing Arbitrarily, When It Is Unsatisfactory To Others Associated With Me.

Believing Everybody Is Dangerous, But Believing Nobody Is More Dangerous.

In Giving Freedom To The Slave, We Assure Freedom To The Free.

Congress And The President

We Better Know There Is A Fire Whence We See Much Smoke Rising Than We Could Know It By One Or Two Witnesses Swearing To It. The Witnesses May Commit Perjury, But The Smoke Cannot.

Again, A Law May Be Both Constitutional And Expedient, And Yet May Be Administered In An Unjust And Unfair Way.

Don’t Criticize Them; They Are Just What We Would Be Under Similar Circumstances.

The Almighty Has His Own Purposes.

I Failed, I Failed, And That Is About All That Can Be Said About It.

We Can Complain Because Rose Bushes Have Thorns, Or Rejoice Because Thorn Bushes Have Roses.

Let Us At All Times Remember That All American Citizens Are Brothers Of A Common Country, And Should Dwell Together In Bonds Of Fraternal Feeling.

If Any Should Be Slaves, It Should Be First Those Who Desire It For Themselves, And Secondly, Those Who Desire It For Others

I Will, To The Best Of My Ability, Preserve, Protect And Defend The Constitution Of The United States. It Is Not The Constitution As I Would Like To Have It, But As It Is, That Is To Be Defended. The Constitution Will Not Be Preserved & Defended Until It Is Enforced & Obeyed In Every Part Of Every One Of The United States. It Must Be So Respected, Obeyed, Enforced And Defended, And Let The Grass Grow Where It May.

Marriage Is Neither Heaven Nor Hell, It Is Simply Purgatory.

I Know That The Lord Is Always On The Side Of The Right. But It Is My Constant Anxiety And Prayer That I And This Nation Should Be On The Lord's Side.

We Were Proclaiming Ourselves Political Hypocrites Before The World, By Thus Fostering Human Slavery And Proclaiming Ourselves, At The Same Time, The Sole Friends Of Human Freedom.

The People Know Their Rights, And They Are Never Slow To Assert And Maintain Them, When They Are Invaded.

The Time Has Come When I Am For Everybody Fighting The Rebels. Let Indians Fight Them; Let The Negroes Fight Them; And If You Have Got Any Strong-legged Jackasses In Iwoa That Can Kick Rebels To Death, They Have My Hearty Consent.

The Autocrat Of All The Russias Will Resign His Crown, And Proclaim His Subjects Free Republicans Sooner Than Will Our American Masters Voluntarily Give Up Their Slaves.

I Believe The Bible Is The Best Gift God Has Ever Given To Man.

What I Do Say Is, That No Man Is Good Enough To Govern Another Man, Without That Other's Consent. I Say This Is The Leading Principle - The Sheet Anchor Of American Republicanism.

I Hear You Have Abolitionists Here. We Have A Few In Illinois, But We Shot One The Other Day.

While I Am Deeply Sensible To The High Compliment Of A Re-election; And Duly Grateful, As I Trust, To Almighty God For Having Directed My Countrymen To A Right Conclusion, As I Think, For Their Own Good, It Adds Nothing To My Satisfaction That Any Other Man May Be Disappointed Or Pained By The Result.

If You Wish To Be A Lawyer, Attach No Consequence To The Place You Are In, Or The Person You Are With; But Get Books, Sit Down Anywhere, And Go To Reading For Yourself. That Will Make A Lawyer Of You Quicker Than Any Other Way.

The Surest Way To Reveal One's Character Is Not Through Adversity But By Giving Them Power.

Anxiety Beclouds The Future.

The Man Who Stands By And Says Nothing, When The Peril Of His Government Is Discussed, Can Not Be Misunderstood. If Not Hindered, He Is Sure To Help The Enemy.

The Assertion That 'all Men Are Created Equal' Was Of No Practical Use In Effecting Our Separation From Great Britain And It Was Placed In The Declaration Not For That, But For Future Use.

The Time Comes Upon Every Public Man When It Is Best For Him To Keep His Lips Closed.

Our Political Problem Now Is, "can We As A Nation Continue Together Permanently - Forever - Half Slave And Half Free?"

The Power Confided In Me Will Be Used To Hold, Occupy And Possess The Property And Places Belonging To The Government, And To Collect The Duties And Imposts.

Hold On With A Bulldog Grip, And Chew And Choke As Much As Possible.

When Someone Asked Abraham Lincoln, After He Was Elected President, What He Was Going To Do About His Enemies, He Replied, "i Am Going To Destroy Them. I Am Going To Make Them My Friends."

Weakness Is What Keeps Driving Us To God, By The Overwhelming Conviction That There Just Isn't Anywhere Else To Go.

Hypocrite: The Man Who Murdered His Parents, And Then Pleaded For Mercy On The Grounds That He Was An Orphan.

I Believe It Is An Established Maxim In Morals That He Who Makes An Assertion Without Knowing Whether It Is True Or False, Is Guilty Of Falsehood; And The Accidental Truth Of The Assertion, Does Not Justify Or Excuse Him.

There Is Nothing True Anywhere, The True Is Nowhere To Be Seen; If You Say You See The True, This Seeing Is Not The True One.

Senator [stephen] Douglas Is Of World-wide Renown. All The Anxious Politicians Of His Party, Or Who Have Been Of His Party For Years Past, Have Been Looking Upon Him As Certainly, At No Distant Day, To Be The President Of The United States. They Have Seen In His Round, Jolly, Fruitful Face, Post Offices, Land Offices, Marshalships, And Cabinet Appointments, Chargeships And Foreign Missions, Bursting And Sprouting Out In Wonderful Exuberance Ready To Be Laid Hold Of By Their Greedy Hands.

Were It Not For My Little Jokes, I Could Not Bear The Burdens Of This Office.

[uniting Workers Should Not] Lead To A War Upon Property, Or The Owners Of Property.

Every Man Is Born An Original, But Sadly, Most Men Die Copies.

I Claim Not To Have Controlled Events, But Confess Plainly That Events Have Controlled Me.

The People When Rightly And Fully Trusted Will Return The Trust.

The Leading Rule For A Man Of Every Calling Is Diligence; Never Put Off Until Tomorrow What You Can Do Today.

I Say Now, However, As I Have All The While Said, That On The Territorial Question - That Is, The Question Of Extending Slavery Under The National Auspices, - I Am Inflexible. I Am For No Compromise Which Assists Or Permits The Extension Of The Institution On Soil Owned By The Nation.

The World Shall Know That I Will Keep My Faith To Friends And Enemies, Come What Will.

Friends And Enemies

It Is Not The Qualified Voters, But The Qualified Voters Who Choose To Vote, That Constitute Political Power.

I Am A Patient Man--always Willing To Forgive On The Christian Terms Of Repentance, And Also To Give Ample Time For Repentance. Still, I Must Save This Government, If Possible. What I Cannot Do, Of Course I Will Not Do, But It May As Well Be Understood, Once For All, That I Shall Not Surrender This Game Leaving Any Available Card Unplayed.

A Tendancy To Melancholy...let It Be Observed, Is A Misfortune, Not A Fault.

It Is To Deny, What The History Of The World Tells Us Is True, To Suppose That Men Of Ambition And Talents Will Not Continue To Spring Up Amongst Us. And, When They Do, They Will As Naturally Seek The Gratification Of Their Ruling Passion, As Others Have So Done Before Them.

Cortissoz Was Art Critic Of The New York Herald Tribune.

Surely God Would Not Have Created Such A Being As Man, With An Ability To Grasp The Infinite, To Exist Only For A Day! No, No, Man Was Made For Immortality.

It Is A Sin To Be Silent When It Is Your Duty To Protest.

We Have Been Preserved, These Many Years, In Peace And Prosperity. We Have Grown In Numbers, Wealth And Power, As No Other Nation Has Ever Grown. But We Have Forgotten God. We Have Forgotten The Gracious Hand Which Preserved Us In Peace, And Multiplied And Enriched And Strengthened Us; And We Have Vainly Imagined, In The Deceitfulness Of Our Hearts, That All These Blessings Were Produced By Some Superior Wisdom And Virtue Of Our Own. Intoxicated With Unbroken Success, We Have Become Too Self Sufficient To Feel The Necessity Of Redeeming And Preserving Grace, Too Proud To Pray To The God That Made Us!

If You Intend To Go To Work There Is No Better Place Than Right Where You Are; If You Do Not Intend To Go To Work, You Can Not Get Along Anywhere.

I Shall Not Do More Than I Can, And I Shall Do All I Can To Save The Government, Which Is My Sworn Duty As Well As My Personal Inclination. I Shall Do Nothing In Malice. What I Deal With Is Too Vast For Malicious Dealing.

Nations Do Not Die From Invasion; They Die From Internal Rottenness.

You Can Not Fail In Any Laudable Object, Unless You Allow Your Mind To Be Improperly Directed.

A Nation May Be Said To Consist Of Its Territory, Its People, And Its Laws. The Territory Is The Only Part Which Is Of Certain Durability.

As We Keep Or Break The Sabbath Day We Nobly Save Or Meanly Lose The Last Best Hope By Which Man Rises.

A Prohibition Law Strikes A Blow At The Very Principles Upon Which Our Government Was Founded.

As A Peacemaker The Lawyer Has Superior Opportunity Of Being A Good Man.

I Am Now The Most Miserable Man Living. If What I Feel Equally Distributed To The Whole Human Family, There Would Not Be One Cheerful Face On The Earth. Whether I Shall Ever Be Better, I Cannot Tell; I Awfully Forebode I Shall Not. To Remain As I Am Is Impossible. I Must Die Or Be Better, It Appears To Me.

The World Has Never Had A Good Definition Of The Word Liberty

The President Is The Cube Of Ice One Places In The Pot Of A Houseplant, Providing A Steady Amount Of Nourishment Over The Course Of A Hot Day. A Good Description Of The Job And Also A Fantastic Bit Of Practical Household Advice.

What Is To Be, Will Be, And No Prayers Of Ours Can Arrest The Decree.

Let Reverence For The Laws . . . Become The Political Religion Of The Nation.

President Lincoln Was Once Criticized For His Attitude Toward His Enemies. "why Do You Try To Make Friends Of Them?" Asked An Associate. "you Should Try To Destroy Them." "am I Not Destroying My Enemies," Lincoln Gently Replied, "when I Make Them My Friends?"

I Would Rather Be Assassinated Than See A Single Star Removed From The American Flag.

Oh, That [his Thanksgiving Message] Is Some Of Seward's Nonsense, And It Pleases The Fools.

It Is Difficult To Make A Man Miserable While He Feels Worthy Of Himself And Claims Kindred To The Great God Who Made Him.

If I Get 8 Hours To Cut A Tree I'll Spend 7 Hours To Sharp My Knife.

I Do Not Think I Could Myself, Be Brought To Support A Man For Office, Whom I Knew To Be An Open Enemy Of, And Scoffer At, Religion. Leaving The Higher Matter Of Eternal Consequences, Between Him And His Maker, I Still Do Not Think Any Man Has The Right Thus To Insult The Feelings, And Injure The Morals, Of The Community In Which He May Live.

A Friend Is One Who Has The Same Enemies As You Have.

We Must Not Promise What We Ought Not, Lest We Be Called On To Perform What We Cannot.

Keeping Promises

I Will Either Be America's Greatest President Or Its Last.

My Politics Are Short And Sweet, Like The Old Woman's Dance.

Short And Sweet

When I Lay Down The Reins Of This Administration, I Want To Have One Friend Left. And That Friend Is Myself.

Tis Better People Think You A Fool, Then Open Your Mouth And Erase All Doubt.

As An Individual Who Undertakes To Live By Borrowing, Soon Finds His Original Means Devoured By Interest, And Next No One Left To Borrow From - So Must It Be With A Government.

And Whereas This House Desires To Obtain A Full Knowledge Of All The Facts Which Go To Establish Whether The Particular Spot Of Soil Which The Blood Of Our Citizens Was So Shed Was, Or Was Not, Our Own Soil.

Congressmen Who Willfully Take Action During Wartime That Damages Morale And Undermine The Military Are Saboteurs And Should Be Arrested, Exiled, Or Hung

We Must Ask Where We Are And Whither We Are Tending.

I Think That God Means That We Shall Do More Than We Have Yet Done In Furtherance Of His Plans And He Will Open The Way For Our Doing It.

The Ant, Who Has Toiled And Dragged A Crumb To His Nest, Will Furiously Defend The Fruit Of His Labor, Against Whatever Robber Assails Him. So Plain, That The Most Dumb And Stupid Slave That Ever Toiled For A Master, Does Constantly Know That He Is Wronged.

I Am Slow To Learn And Slow To Forget That Which I Have Learned. My Mind Is Like A Piece Of Steel, Very Hard To Scratch Any Thing On It And Almost Impossible After You Get It There To Rub It Out.

Both Read The Same Bible, And Pray To The Same God; And Each Invokes His Aid Against The Other. It May Seem Strange That Any Men Should Dare To Ask A Just God's Assistance In Wringing Their Bread From The Sweat Of Other Men's Faces; But Let Us Judge Not That We Be Not Judged. The Prayers Of Both Could Not Be Answered; That Of Neither Has Been Answered Fully.

I Have An Irrepressible Desire To Live Till I Can Be Assured That The World Is A Little Better For My Having Lived In It.

Famous Inspirational

I Am Absent Altogether Too Much To Be A Suitable Instructor For A Law-student. When A Man Has Reached The Age That Mr. Widner Has,and Has Already Been Doing For Himself, My Judgment Is, That He Reads The Books For Himself Without An Instructor. That Is Precisely The Way I Came To The Law.

A Man Is About As Happy As He Makes Up His Mind To Be.

I Am An Optimist Because I Don't See The Point In Being Anything Else.

Kindness Is The Only Service That Will Stand The Storm Of Life And Not Wash Out. It Will Wear Well And Will Be Remembered Long After The Prism Of Politeness Or The Complexion Of Courtesy Has Faded Away.

Here In My Heart, My Happiness, My House. Here Inside The Lighted Window Is My Love, My Hope, My Life. Peace Is My Companion On The Pathway Winding To The Threshold. Inside This Portal Dwells New Strength In The Security, Serenity, And Radiance Of Those I Love Above Life Itself. Here Two Will Build New Dreams--dreams That Tomorrow Will Come True. The World Over, These Are The Thoughts At Eventide When Footsteps Turn Ever Homeward. In The Haven Of The Hearthside Is Rest And Peace And Comfort.

I Never Knew A Man Who Wished To Be Himself A Slave. Consider If You Know Any Good Thing, That No Man Desires For Himself.

My Dream Is Of A Place And A Time Where America Will Once Again Be Seen As The Last Best Hope Of Earth.

The Purposes Of The Almighty Are Perfect, And Must Prevail, Though We Erring Mortals May Fail To Accurately Perceive Them In Advance.

Without The Assistance Of That Divine Being...i Cannot Succeed. With That Assistance I Cannot Fail.

You Dislike The Emancipation Proclamation; And, Perhaps, Would Have It Retracted. You Say It Is Unconstitutional - I Think Differently.

Emancipation Proclamation

I Affect No Contempt For The High Eminence He [senator Stephen Douglas] Has Reached. So Reached, That The Oppressed Of My Species,might Have Shared With Me In The Elevation, I Would Rather Stand On That Eminence, Than Wear The Richest Crown That Ever Pressed A Monarch's Brow.

And Upon This Act [emancipation Proclamation]...i Invoke...the Gracious Favor Of Almighty God.

Emancipation Proclamation

Men Are Not Flattered By Being Shown That There Has Been A Difference Of Purpose Between The Almighty And Them. To Deny It, However, In This Case, Is To Deny That There Is A God Governing The World. It Is A Truth Which I Thought Needed To Be Told; And As Whatever Of Humilation There Is In It, Falls Most Directly On Myself, I Thought Others Might Afford For Me To Tell It.

If The Negro Is A Man, Why Then My Ancient Faith Teaches Me That ‘all Men Are Created Equal,' And That There Can Be No Moral Right In Connection With One Man's Making A Slave Of Another.

If I Were To Try To Read, Much Less Answer, All The Attacks Made On Me, This Shop Might As Well Be Closed For Any Other Business.

The Union Is Much Older Than The Constitution. It Was Formed In Fact, By The Articles Of Association In 1774. It Was Matured And Continued By The Declaration Of Independence In 1776.

We Trust, Sir, That God Is On Our Side. It Is More Important To Know That We Are On God's Side.

My Experience Has Taught Me That A Man Who Has No Vices Has Damned Few Virtues.

Nothing New Here, Except My Marrying, Which To Me Is A Matter Of Profound Wonder.

This Country, With Its Institutions, Belongs To The People Who Inhabit It. Whenever They Shall Grow Weary Of The Existing Government, They Can Exercise Their Constitutional Right Of Amending It, Or Exercise Their Revolutionary Right To Overthrow It.

You Think Slavery Is Right And Ought To Be Extended; While We Think It Is Wrong And Ought To Be Restricted. That I Suppose Is The Rub. It Certainly Is The Only Substantial Difference Between Us.

One's Only Security In Life Comes From Doing Something Uncommonly Well.

Better To Remain Silent And Thought A Fool, Than To Speak Out And Confirm That You Didn't Do The Assigned Readings Before The Strategic Planning Retreat.

Books Serve To Show A Man That Those Original Thoughts Of His Aren't Very New At All.

New Relationship

One Is A Majority If He Is Right.

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Richard J. Daley

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