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At 50, If You Are On A Diet On Your Birthday, You Can't Eat A Piece Of Your Birthday Cake. So Grab Two, A Piece In Each Hand And, Lo And Behold, You Will Be On A Balanced Diet! Happy Birthday, Old Chum!

-Abraham Lincoln

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At 50, If You

Abraham Lincoln

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At 50, If You Are On A Diet On Your Birthday, You Can't Eat A Piece Of Your Birthday Cake. So Grab Two, A Piece In Each Hand And, Lo And Behold, You Will Be On A Balanced Diet! Happy Birthday, Old Chum!

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The Best Way To Get Rid Of Your Enemies Is To Make Them Your Friends.

The Legitimate Object Of Government Is To Do For A Community Of People Whatever They Need To Have Done, But Can Not Do At All, Or Can Not So Well Do, For Themselves – In Their Separate, And Individual Capacities.

All That Serves Labor Serves The Nation. All ^ That Harms Labor Is Treason To America. No Line Can Be Drawn Between These Two. If Any Man Tells You He Loves America, Yet Hates Labor, He Is A Liar. If Any Man Tells You He Trusts America, Yet Fears Labor, He Is A Fool. There Is No America Without Labor, And To Fleece The One Is To Rob The Other.

It Is Said An Eastern Monarch Once Charged His Wise Men To Invent Him A Sentence To Be Ever In View, And Which Should Be True And Appropriate In All Times And Situations. They Presented Him The Words, "and This Too, Shall Pass Away." How Much It Expresses! How Chastening In The Hour Of Pride! How Consoling In The Depths Of Affliction!

So Plain That No One, High Or Low, Ever Does Mistake It, Except In A Plainly Selfish Way; For Although Volume Upon Volume Is Written To Prove Slavery A Very Good Thing, We Never Hear Of The Man Who Wishes To Take The Good Of It, By Being A Slave Himself.

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

The Bible Is Not My Book Nor Christianity My Profession. I Could Never Give Assent To The Long, Complicated Statements Of Christian Dogma.

Our Reliance Is In The Love Of Liberty Which God Has Planted In Our Bosoms.

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.

Did Stanton Say I Was A Damned Fool? Then I Dare Say I Must Be One, For Stanton Is Generally Right And He Always Says What He Means.

I Want It Said Of Me By Those Who Knew Me Best, That I Always Plucked A Thistle And Planted A Flower Where I Thought A Flower Would Grow.

I Am Much Indebted To The Good Christian People Of The Country For Their Constant Prayers And Consolations; And To No One Of Them, More Than To Yourself.

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.

Kings Had Always Been Involving And Impoverishing Their People In Wars, Pretending Generally, If Not Always, That The Good Of The People Was The Object

An Allusion Has Been Made To The Homestead Law. I Think It Worthy Of Consideration, And That The Wild Lands Of The Country Should Be Distributed So That Every Man Should Have The Means And Opportunity Of Benefitting His Condition.

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.

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

Should My Administration Prove To Be A Very Wicked One...or A Very Foolish One, If You, The People, Are True To Yourselves And The Constitution, There Is Little Harm I Can Do, Thank God.

The Greatest Lessons I Have Every Learned Were At My Mother's Knees... All That I Am, Or Hope To Be, I Owe To My Angel Mother.

Will Springs From The Two Elements Of Moral Sense And Self-interest.

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

Adhere To Your Purpose And You Will Soon Feel As Well As You Ever Did. On The Contrary, If You Falter, And Give Up, You Will Lose The Power Of Keeping Any Resolution, And Will Regret It All Your Life.

You Have More Of A Feeling Of Personal Resentment Than I Have. Perhaps, I Have Too Little Of It, But I Never Thought It Paid.

Upon The Subject Of Education, Not Presuming To Dictate Any Plan Or System Respecting It, I Can Only Say That I View It As The Most Important Subject Which We As A People Can Be Engaged In.

Labor Is The Great Source From Which Nearly All, If Not All, Human Comforts And Necessities Are Drawn.

I Don't Like That Man. I Must Get To Know Him Better.

Great Men Are Ordinary Men With Extra Ordinary Determination.

Let Every American, Every Lover Of Liberty, Every Well Wisher To His Posterity, Swear By The Blood Of The Revolution, Never To Violate In The Least Particular, The Laws Of The Country; And Never To Tolerate Their Violation By Others.

I Have Simply Tried To Do What Seemed Best Each Day, As Each Day Came.

If Elected I Shall Be Thankful; If Not, It Will Be All The Same.

If You Once Forfeit The Confidence Of Your Fellow Citizens, You Can Never Regain Their Respect And Esteem. It Is True That You May Fool All Of The People Some Of The Time; You Can Even Fool Some Of The People All Of The Time; But You Can't Fool All Of The People All Of The Time. -speech At Clinton, Illinois, September 8, 1854.

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

Better Give Your Path To A Dog Than Be Bitten By Him In Contesting For The Right. Even Killing The Dog Would Not Cure The Bite

I Desire To See The Time When Education, And By Its Means, Morality, Sobriety, Enterprise And Industry Shall Become Much More General Than At Present.

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.

I Hold That While A Man Exists, It Is His Duty To Improve Not Only His Own Condition, But To Assist In Ameliorating Mankind.

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.

As A General Rule, I Abstain From Reading Reports Of Attacks Upon Myself, Wishing Not To Be Provoked By That To Which I Cannot Properly Offer An Answer.

It Behooves Us Then To Humble Ourselves Before The Offended Power To Confess Our National Sins And To Pray For Clemency And Forgiveness.

Things May Come To Those Who Wait, But Only The Things Left By Those Who Hustle.

I Have Endured A Great Deal Of Ridicule Without Much Malice; And Have Received A Great Deal Of Kindness, Not Quite Free From Ridicule. I Am Used To It.

But Fight We Must; And Conquer We Shall; In The End.

My Friends I Now Leave, Not Knowing When, Or Whether Ever, I May Return, With A Task Before Me Greater Than That Which Rested Upon Washington. Without The Assistance Of That Divine Being, Who Ever Attended Him, I Cannot Succeed. With That Assistance, I Cannot Fail.

No State, Upon Its Own Mere Motion, Can Lawfully Get Out Of The Union. Plainly, The Central Idea Of Secession, Is The Essence Of Anarchy.

Don't Judge A Man By The Size Of His Ego Or His Heart, But On The Epicness Of His Beard And The Beautiful Woman On His Arm

And I Do Further Recommend To My Fellow-citizens Aforesaid, That On That Occasion They Do Reverently Humble Themselves In The Dust, And From Thence Offer Up Penitent And Fervent Prayers And Supplications To The Great Disposer Of Events For A Return Of The Inestimable Blessings Of Peace, Union, And Harmony Throughout The Land Which It Has Pleased Him To Assign As A Dwelling-place For Ourselves And For Our Posterity Throughout All Generations.

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

The Eyes Of That Species Of Extinct Giant, Whose Bones Fill The Mounds Of America, Have Gazed On Niagara As Our Eyes Do Now.

Sending Armies To Mcclellan Is Like Shoveling Fleas Across A Barnyard, Not Half Of Them Get There.

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

Emancipation Proclamation

As I Would Not Be A Slave, So I Would Not Be A Master. This Expresses My Idea Of Democracy.

Why Don't I Drink From A Straw? Because Straws Are For Suckers.

We Can Not Have Free Government Without Elections; And If The Rebellion Could Force Us To Forego, Or Postpone A National Election It Might Fairly Claim To Have Already Conquered And Ruined Us.

I'm A Success Today Because I Had A Friend Who Believed In Me And I Didn't Have The Heart To Let Him Down.

Twenty-two Years Ago Judge [then-senator Stephen] Douglas And I First Became Acquainted. We Were Both Young Then; He A Trifle Younger Than I. Even Then, We Were Both Ambitious; I, Perhaps, Quite As Much So As He. With Me, The Race Of Ambition Has Been A Failure--a Flat Failure; With Him It Has Been One Of Splendid Success.

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

Many Free Countries Have Lost Their Liberty, And Ours May Lose Hers; But, If She Shall, Be It My Proudest Plume, Not That I Was The Last To Desert, But That I Never Deserted Her.

Friends, I Agree With You In Providence; But I Believe In The Providence Of The Most Men, The Largest Purse, And The Longest Cannon.

When I Am Getting Ready To Reason With A Man, I Spend One-third Of My Time Thinking About Myself And What I Am Going To Say And Two-thirds About Him And What He Is Going To Say.

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.

I Am A Firm Believer In The People. If Given The Truth, They Can Be Depended Upon To Meet Any National Crisis. The Great Point Is To Bring Them The Real Facts.

You May Burn My Body To Ashes, And Scatter Them To The Winds Of Heaven; You May Drag My Soul Down To The Regions Of Darkness And Despair To Be Tormented Forever; But You Will Never Get Me To Support A Measure Which I Believe To Be Wrong, Although By Doing So I May Accomplish That Which I Believe To Be Right.

As A Nation We Began By Declaring That All Me Are Created Equal. We Now Practically Read It, All Men Are Created Equal Except Negroes.

It's Not Me Who Can't Keep A Secret. It's The People I Tell That Can't.

No Policy That Does Not Rest Upon Some Philosophical Public Opinion Can Be Permanently Maintained.

I Like To See A Man Proud Of The Place In Which He Lives. I Like To See A Man Live So That His Place Will Be Proud Of Him.

Behind The Cloud The Sun Is Still Shining.

Nobody Has Ever Expected Me To Be President. In My Poor, Lean, Lank Face, Nobody Has Ever Seen That Any Cabbages Were Sprouting Out.

I Can Make A General In Five Minutes But A Good Horse Is Hard To Replace.

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.

With High Hope For The Future, No Prediction Is Ventured.

Hope For The Future

A Husband And Wife May Be Divorced And Go Out Of The Presence And Beyond The Reach Of Each Other, But The Different Parts Of Our Country Can Not Do This. They Can But Remain Face To Face, And Intercourse, Either Amicable Or Hostile, Must Continue Between Them.

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

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.

How Many Times Have I Laughed At You Telling Me Plainly That I Was Too Lazy To Be Anything But A Lawyer.

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

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

I Do Not Doubt That Our Country Will Finally Come Through Safe And Undivided. But Do Not Misunderstand Me... I Do Not Rely On The Patriotism Of Our People... The Bravery And Devotion Of The Boys In Blue... (or) The Loyalty And Skill Of Our Generals... But The God Of Our Fathers, Who Raised Up This Country To Be The Refuge And Asylum Of The Oppressed And Downtrodden Of All Nations, Will Not Let It Perish Now. I May Not Live To See It... I Do Not Expect To See It, But God Will Bring Us Through Safe.

It Has Been My Experience That Folks Who Have No Vices Have Very Few Virtues.

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

Love Is The Chain Whereby To Bind A Child To Its Parents.

The Better Part Of One's Life Consists Of His Friendships.

You Already Know I Desire That Neither Father Or Mother Shall Be In Want Of Any Comfort Either In Health Or Sickness While They Live.

Character Is The Tree, Reputation Is The Shadow.

I Have Come To The Conclusion Never Again To Think Of Marrying, And For This Reason, I Can Never Be Satisfied With Anyone Who Would Be Blockhead Enough To Have Me.

When You Have Got An Elephant By The Hind Legs And He Is Trying To Run Away, It's Best To Let Him Run.

I Trust That As He Shall Further Open The Way, I Will Be Ready To Walk Therein, Relying On His Help And Trusting In His Goodness And Wisdom.

Can Treaties Be More Faithfully Enforced Between Aliens Than Laws Can Among Friends? Suppose You Go To War, You Cannot Fight Always; And When, After Much Loss On Both Sides, And No Gain On Either, You Cease Fighting, The Identical Old Questions As To Terms Of Intercourse Are Again Upon You.

Among Free Men There Can Be No Successful Appeal From The Ballot To The Bullet.

The Demon Of Intemperance Ever Seems To Have Delighted In Sucking The Blood Of Genius And Of Generosity. What One Of Us But Can Call To Mind Some Relative More Promising In Youth Than All His Fellows, Who Has Fallen A Sacrifice To His Rapacity?

Submitted To The Sec. Of War. On Principle I Dislike An Oath Which Requires A Man To Swear He Has Not Done Wrong. It Rejects The Christian Principle Of Forgiveness On Terms Of Repentance. I Think It Is Enough If The Man Does No Wrong Hereafter.

Your Good Mother Tells Me You Are Feeling Very Badly In Your New Situation. Allow Me To Assure You It Is A Perfect Certainty That You Will, Very Soon, Feel Better - Quite Happy - If You Only Stick To The Resolution You Have Taken To Procure A Military Education.... On The Contrary, If You Falter, And Give Up, You Will Lose The Power Of Keeping Any Resolution, And Will Regret It All Your Life.

We Have Been The Recipients Of The Choicest Bounties Of Heaven; 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.

Nations Like Individuals Are Subjected To Punishments And Chastisements In This World.

A Woman Is The Only Thing I Am Afraid Of That I Know Will Not Hurt Me.

There Was The Strangest Combination Of Church Influence Against Me. Baker Is A Campbellite; And Therefore, As I Suppose With Few Exceptions, Got All Of That Church. My Wife Had Some Relations In The Presbyterian Churches, And Some In The Episcopal Churches; And Therefore, Wherever It Would Tell, I Was Set Down As Either One Or The Other, While It Was Everywhere Contended That No Christian Ought To Vote For Me Because I Belonged To No Church, And Was Suspected Of Being A Deist And Had Talked Of Fighting A Duel.

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

With The Catching Ends The Pleasure Of The Chase.

If You Love Something, Set It Free.

Getting Back Together

I Must Keep Some Standard Of Principle Fixed Within Myself.

We Shall Meanly Lose Or Nobly Save The Last Hope Of Earth.

When I Go Hear A Man Speak, I Like To Hear Him Speak Like He's Fighting A Swarm Of Bees.

If I Were Two-faced, Would I Be Wearing This One?

Money Powers Prey Upon The Nation In Times Of Peace & Conspire Against It In Times Of Adversity.

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

Military Glory-that Attractive Rainbow, That Rises In Showers Of Blood-that Serpent's Eye, That Charms To Destroy.

The Purposes Of The Almighty Are Perfect, And Must Prevail, Though We Erring Mortals May Fail To Accurately Perceive Them In Advance. We Hoped For A Happy Termination Of This Terrible War Long Before This; But God Knows Best, And Has Ruled Otherwise. We Shall Yet Acknowledge His Wisdom, And Our Own Error Therein. Meanwhile We Must Work Earnestly In The Best Lights He Gives Us, Trusting That So Working Still Conduces To The Great Ends He Ordains. Surely He Intends Some Great Good To Follow This Mighty Convulsion, Which No Mortal Could Make, And No Mortal Could Stay.

At The Beginning Of The War, And For Some Time, The Use Of Colored Troops Was Not Contemplated; And How The Change Of Purpose Was Wrought, I Will Not Now Take Time To Explain. Upon A Clear Conviction Of Duty I Resolved To Turn That Element Of Strength To Account; And I Am Responsible For It To The American People, To The Christian World, To History, And On My Final Account To God.

I Believe I Shall Never Be Old Enough To Speak Without Embarrassment When I Have Nothing To Talk About.

Whether Or Not The World Would Be Vastly Benefited By A Total Banishment From It Of All Intoxicating Drinks Seems Not Now An Open Question. Three-fourths Of Mankind Confess The Affirmative With Their Tongues, And I Believe All The Rest Acknowledge It In Their Hearts.

Everybody Appreciates A Compliment.

Through Their Deeds, The Dead Of Battle Have Spoken More Eloquently For Themselves Than Any Of The Living Ever Could. But We Can Only Honor Them By Rededicating Ourselves To The Cause For Which They Gave A Last Full Measure Of Devotion.

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

Ready Are We All To Cry Out And Ascribe Motives When Our Toes Are Pinched.

Nearly All Men Can Stand Adversity, But If You Want To Test A Man's Character, Give Him Power.

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

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.

I Hold, That In Contemplation Of Universal Law, And Of The Constitution, The Union Of These States Is Perpetual.

Your Organization Will Take On The Personality Of Its Top Leaders

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

In All That People Can Do For Themselves, Government Ought Not To Interfere.

We Have All Heard Of Young America. He Is The Most Current Youth Of The Age. Some Think Him Conceited, And Arrogant; But Has He Not Reason To Entertain A Rather Extensive Opinion Of Himself? Is He Not The Inventor And Owner Of The Present, And Sole Hope Of The Future?

The Leading Rule For The Lawyer, As For The Man Of Every Other Calling, Is Diligence. Leave Nothing For To-morrow Which Can Be Done To-day.

Procrastination

If You Have Never Failed You Have Never Lived.

Short Inspirational Life

The Occasion Is Piled High With Difficulty. We Must Rise To The Occasion.

Nothing Valuable Can Be Lost By Taking Time.

If You Trust, You Will Be Disappointed Occasionally, But If You Mistrust, You Will Be Miserable All The Time.

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.

Don't Swap Horses In The Middle Of The Stream.

We Have, As All Will Agree, A Free Government, Where Every Man Has A Right To Be Equal With Every Other Man. In This Great Struggle, This Form Of Government And Every Form Of Human Right Is Endangered If Our Enemies Succeed.

With Educated People, I Suppose, Punctuation Is A Matter Of Rule; With Me It Is A Matter Of Feeling. But I Must Say I Have A Great Respect For The Semicolin; It's A Useful Little Chap

Our Common Country Is In Great Peril, Demanding The Loftiest Views, And Boldest Action To Bring It Speedy Relief. Once Relieved, Its Form Of Government Is Saved To The World; Its Beloved History, And Cherished Memories, Are Vindicated; And Its Happy Future Fully Assured, And Rendered Inconceivably Grand.

I Fear Explanations Explanatory Of Things Explained.

Talk To The Jury As Though Your Client's Fate Depends On Every Word You Utter.

Woe Unto The World Because Of Offenses; For It Must Needs Be That Offenses Come, But Woe To That Man By Whom The Offense Cometh.

I Am A Little Uneasy About The Abolishment Of Slavery In This District Of Columbia.

I Have Really Got It Into My Head To Try To Be United States Senator, And, If I Could Have Your Support, My Chances Would Be Reasonably Good. But I Know, And Acknowledge, That You Have As Just Claims To The Place As I Have; And Therefore I Cannot Ask You To Yield To Me, If You Are Thinking Of Becoming A Candidate, Yourself. If, However, You Are Not, Then I Should Like To Be Remembered Affectionately By You; And Also To Have You Make A Mark For Me With The Anti-nebraska Members Down Your Way.

The People Will Save Their Government, If The Government Itself Will Allow Them.

You Cannot Bring About Prosperity By Discouraging Thrift. You Cannot Establish Sound Security On Borrowed Money. You Cannot Keep Out Of Trouble By Spending More Than You Earn.

Republicans Are For Both The Man And The Dollar, But In Case Of Conflict The Man Before The Dollar.

Towering Genius...thirsts And Burns For Distinction; And, If Possible, It Will Have It, Whether At The Expense Of Emancipating Slaves Or Enslaving Freeman.

You Must Think I Am A High-priced Man.... Fifteen Dollars Is Enough For The Job. I Send You A Receipt For Fifteen Dollars, And Return To You A Ten-dollar Bill.

Be With A Leader When He Is Right, Stay With Him When He Is Still Right, But, Leave Him When He Is Wrong.

No Man Ever Got Lost On A Straight Road.

You Have To Do Your Own Growing No Matter How Tall Your Grandfather Was.

A Drop Of Honey Catches More Flies Than A Gallon Of Gall. So With Men. If You Would Win A Man To Your Cause, First Convince Him That You Are His Sincere Friend. Therein Is A Drop Of Honey Which Catches His Heart, Which, Say What He Will, Is The Highroad To His Reason.

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

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

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

Being President Is Like The Man Who Was Tarred And Feathered And Ridden Out Of Town On A Rail... A Man In The Crowd Asked How He Liked It, And His Reply Was That If It Wasn't For The Honor Of The Thing, He Would Much Rather Walk.

Never Change Horses In Midstream.

It Is Easiest To "be All Things To All Men," But It Is Not Honest. Self-respect Must Be Sacrificed Every Hour In The Day.

Hours In The Day

I Am Approached With The Most Opposite Opinions And Advice, And That By Religious Men, Who Are Equally Certain That They Represent The Divine Will. I Am Sure That Either The One Or The Other Class Is Mistaken In That Belief, And Perhaps In Some Respects Both.

And While It Has Not Pleased The Almighty To Bless Us With A Return Of Peace, We Can But Press On, Guided By The Best Light He Gives, Trusting That In His Own Good Time, And Wise Way, All Will Yet Be Well.

To Secure To Each Laborer The Whole Product Of His Labor, Or As Nearly As Possible, Is A Worthy Object Of Any Good Government.

The Love Of Property And Consciousness Of Right And Wrong Have Conflicting Places In Our Organization, Which Often Makes A Man's Course Seem Crooked, His Conduct A Riddle.

Give Me Six Hours To Chop Down A Tree And I Will Spend The First Four Sharpening The Axe.

The Philosophy Of The School Room In One Generation Will Be The Philosophy Of Government In The Next.

His Argument Is As Thin As The Homeopathic Soup That Was Made By Oiling The Shadow Of A Pigeon That Had Been Starved To Death.

Cling To Liberty And Right; Battle Fro Them; Leed For Them; Die For Them, If Need Be; And Have Confidence In God.

You May Have A Wen Or A Cancer Upon Your Person And Not Be Able To Cut It Out Lest You Bleed To Death; But Surely It Is No Way Tocure It, To Engraft It And Spread It Over Your Whole Body.

Our Eldest Boy, Bob, Has Been Away From Us Nearly A Year At School, And Will Enter Harvard University This Month. He Promises Verywell, Considering We Never Controlled Him Much.

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.

Leave Nothing For To-morrow Which Can Be Done To-day.

Procrastination

Government Should Stand Behind Its Currency And Credit And The Bank Deposits Of The Nation. No Individual Should Suffer A Loss Of Money Through Depreciation Or Inflated Currency Of Bank Bankruptcy.

I Have Not Permitted Myself, Gentlemen, To Conclude That I Am The Best Man In The Country; But I Am Reminded, In This Connection, Of A Story Of An Old Dutch Farmer, Who Remarked To A Companion Once That "it Was Not Best To Swap Horses When Crossing Streams."

As The Problems Are New, We Must Disenthrall Ourselves From The Past.

The Prudent, Penniless Beginner In The World, Labors For Wages Awhile, Saves A Surplus With Which To Buy Tools Or Land, For Himself; Then Labors On His Own Account Another While, And At Length Hires Another New Beginner To Help Him. This, Say Its Advocates, Is Free Labor-the Just And Generous, And Prosperous System, Which Opens The Way For All-gives Hope To All, And Energy, And Progress, And Improvement Of Condition To All.

What Constitutes The Bulwark Of Our Own Liberty And Independence? It Is Not...the Guns Of Our War Steamers, Or The Strength Of Our Gallant And Disciplined Army...our Reliance Is In The Love Of Liberty Which God Has Planted In Our Bosoms...

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.

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.

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

Thoughtful Men Must Feel That The Fate Of Civilization Upon This Continent Is Involved In The Issue Of Our Contest. Among The Most Satisfying Proofs Of This Conviction Is The Hearty Devotion Everywhere Exhibited By Our Schools And Colleges To The National Cause.

I Don't Believe In A Law To Prevent A Man From Getting Rich; It Would Do More Harm Than Good. So While We Do Not Propose Any War Upon Capital, We Do Wish To Allow The Humblest Man An Equal Chance To Get Rich With Everybody Else.

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.

I Was Losing Interest In Politics, When The Repeal Of The Missouri Compromise Aroused Me Again. What I Have Done Since Then Is Pretty Well Known.

I Am Naturally Anti-slavery. If Slavery Is Not Wrong, Nothing Is Wrong. I Can Not Remember When I Did Not So Think, And Feel. And Yet I Have Never Understood That The Presidency Conferred Upon Me An Unrestricted Right To Act Officially Upon This Judgment And Feeling.

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

A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand.

Inspirational Life

I Do Not Wish To Be Misunderstood Upon This Subject Of Slavery In This Country. I Suppose It May Long Exist, And Perhaps The Best Way For It To Come To An End Peaceably Is For It To Exist For A Length Of Time. But I Say That The Spread And Strengthening And Perpetuation Of It Is An Entirely Different Proposition. There We Should In Every Way Resist It As A Wrong, Treating It As A Wrong, With The Fixed Idea That It Must And Will Come To An End.

The Struggle Of Today Is Not Altogether For Today - It Is For A Vast Future Also.

And You Are Entirely Free From Head-ache? That Is Good -- Good -- Considering It Is The First Spring You Have Been Free From It Since We Were Acquainted. I Am Afraid You Will Get So Well, And Fat, And Young, As To Be Wanting To Marry Again.

The Money Power Preys On The Nation In Times Of Peace, And Conspires Against It In Times Of Adversity. It Is More Despotic Than Monarchy, More Insolent Than Autocracy, More Selfish Than Bureaucracy. It Denounces, As Public Enemies, All Who Question Its Methods Or Throw Light Upon Its Crimes.

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

If Frienship Is Your Weakest Point Then You Are The Strongest Person In The World.

It's Time For Me To Go. But I Would Rather Stay.

If Slavery Is Not Wrong, Nothing Is Wrong.

He Can Compress The Most Words Into The Smallest Ideas Of Any Man I Ever Met.

Familiarize Yourselves With The Chains Of Bondage And You Prepare Your Own Limbs To Wear Them. Accustomed To Trample On The Rights Of Others, You Have Lost The Genius Of Your Own Independence And Become The Fit Subjects Of The First Cunning Tyrant Who Rises Among You.

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

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.

I Think That One Of The Causes Of These Repeated Failures Is That Our Best And Greatest Men Have Greatly Underestimated The Size Of This Question (slavery). They Have Constantly Brought Forward Small Cures For Great Sores-plasters Too Small To Cover The Wound. That Is One Reason That All Settlements Have Proved So Temporary-so Evanescent.

I Am Busily Engaged In Study Of The Bible.

I Will Do What I Think Is Right And When I Discover That It Is Wrong, I Will Change It.

The World Has Never Had A Good Definition Of The Word Liberty, And The American People, Just Now, Are Much In Want Of One. We All Declare For Liberty; But In Using The Same Word We Do Not All Mean The Same Thing.

But The Proclamation, As Law, Either Is Valid, Or Is Not Valid. If It Is Not Valid, It Needs No Retraction. If It Is Valid, It Can Not Be Retracted, Any More Than The Dead Can Be Brought To Life.

Women Are The Only People I Am Afraid Of Who I Never Thought Would Hurt Me

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

I Told Myself, "lincoln, You Can Never Make A Lawyer If You Do Not Understand What Demonstrate Means." So I Left My Situation In Springfield, Went Home To My Father's House, And Stayed There Till I Could Give Any Proposition In The Six Books Of Euclid At Sight. I Then Found Out What "demonstrate" Means, And Went Back To My Law Studies.

We Shall Yet Acknowledge His Wisdom And Our Own Error Therein.

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