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I Can Only Say That I Have Acted Upon My Best Convictions, Without Selfishness Or Malice, And That By The Help Of God I Shall Continue To Do So.
-Abraham Lincoln
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I Can Only Say

Abraham Lincoln
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I Can Only Say That I Have Acted Upon My Best Convictions, Without Selfishness Or Malice, And That By The Help Of God I Shall Continue To Do So.

Understanding the Quote: "i can only say that i have acted upon my best convictions,..."

This quote by Abraham Lincoln reflects deeply on the theme of god. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under God, Selfishness, Helping, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Abraham Lincoln interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln is celebrated for insightful thoughts on god and selfishness. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
God
Selfishness
Helping
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Inspiring
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If A Man Will Stand Up And Assert, And Repeat And Re-assert, That Two And Two Do Not Make Four, I Know Nothing In The Power Of Argument That Can Stop Him.
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Why Don't You Laugh? If I Did Not Laugh I Should Die, And You Need This Medicine As Much As I Do.
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Medicine
Laughing
The Man Does Not Live Who Is More Devoted To Peace Than I Am. None Who Would Do More To Preserve It.
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He Man
I Have Always Found That Mercy Bears Richer Fruits Than Strict Justice.
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I Can Not But Hate The Prospect Of Slavery's Expansion. I Hate It Because Of The Monstrous Injustice Of Slavery Itself. I Hate It Because It Deprives Our Republican Example Of Its Just Influence In The World-enables The Enemies Of Free Institutions, With Plausibility, To Taunt Us As Hypocrites-causes The Real Friends Of Freedom To Doubt Our Sincerity.
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Fruit
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Tasks
Lasts
Never Stir Up Litigation, A Worse Man Can Scarcely Be Found Than One Who Does This, Who Can Be More Nearly A Fiend Than He Who Habitually Overhauls The Register Of Deeds In Search Of Defects In Titles, Whereon To Stir Up Strife, And Put Money In His Pocket?
Men
Pockets
Titles
We Accepted This War For An Object, A Worthy Object, And The War Will End When That Object Is Attained. Under God, I Hope It Never Will Until That Time.
Perseverance
Religious
War
One's Only Security In Life Comes From Doing Something Uncommonly Well.
Excellence
Wells
Security
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.
Awareness
True Ones
Seeing
[t]he Man Who, In The Concrete Pressure Of A Struggle For National Independence By A Single People, Had The Coolness, Forecast, And Capacity To Introduce Into A Merely Revolutionary Document, An Abstract Truth, Applicable To All Men And All Times, And So To Embalm It There, That To-day, And In All Coming Days, It Shall Be A Rebuke And A Stumbling-block To The Very Harbingers Of Reappearing Tyranny And Oppression.
Block
Struggle
Men
No Client Ever Had Money Enough To Bribe My Conscience Or To Stop Its Utterance Against Wrong, And Oppression. My Conscience Is My Own - My Creators - Not Man's. I Shall Never Sink The Rights Of Mankind To The Malice, Wrong, Or Avarice Of Another's Wishes, Though Those Wishes Come To Me In The Relation Of Client And Attorney.
Men
Law
Rights
The Master Not Only Governs The Slave Without His Consent, But He Governs Him By A Set Of Rules Altogether Different From Those Which He Prescribes For Himself. Allow All The Governed An Equal Voice In The Government, And That, And That Only, Is Self-government.
Government
Self
Voice
That Our Government Should Have Been Maintained In Its Original Form From Its Establishment Until Now, Is Not Much To Be Wondered At. It Had Many Props To Support It Through That Period, Which Now Are Decayed, And Crumbled Away. Through That Period, It Was Felt By All, To Be An Undecided Experiment; Now, It Is Understood To Be A Successful One.
Successful
Government
Should Have
Such Will Be A Great Lesson Of Peace: Teaching Men That What They Cannot Take By An Election, Neither Can They Take It By War.
War
Teaching
Men
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.
Believe
Silly
Men
If Frienship Is Your Weakest Point Then You Are The Strongest Person In The World.
Friendship
World
Brilliant
If This Is Coffee, Please Bring Me Some Tea; But If This Is Tea, Please Bring Me Some Coffee.
Coffee
Food
Book
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.
Party
Past
Hands
You Dislike The Emancipation Proclamation; And, Perhaps, Would Have It Retracted. You Say It Is Unconstitutional - I Think Differently.
War
Thinking
Emancipation Proclamation
Human-nature Will Not Change.
Change
Human Nature
Humans
If I Get 8 Hours To Cut A Tree I'll Spend 7 Hours To Sharp My Knife.
Cutting
Knives
Tree
I Cannot Speak So Confidently About The Fighting Qualities Of The Eastern Men, Or What Are Called Yankees - Not Knowing Myself Particularly To Whom The Appellation Belongs - But This I Do Know - If The Southerners Think That Man For Man They Are Better Than Our Illinois Men, Or Western Men Generally, They Will Discover Themselves In A Grievous Mistake.
Mistake
Fighting
Men
In Regards To This Great Book [the Bible], I Have But To Say It Is The Best Gift God Has Given To Man. All The Good The Savior Gave To The World Was Communicated Through This Book. But For It We Could Not Know Right From Wrong. All Things Most Desirable For Man's Welfare, Here And Hereafter, Are Found Portrayed In It.
Bible
God
Religious
I Am Not Bound To Win, But I Am Bound To Be True.
Integrity
Love Yourself
Winning
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.
Motivational
Death
Kindness
I Will Prepare And Some Day My Chance Will Come.
Inspirational
Basketball
Opportunity
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.
Men
Misunderstood
Enemy
I Agree With You, Mr. Chairman, That The Working Men Are The Basis Of All Governments, For The Plain Reason That They Are The More Numerous, And As You Added That Those Were The Sentiments Of The Gentlemen Present, Representing Not Only The Working Class, But Citizens Of Other Callings Than Those Of The Mechanic, I Am Happy To Concur With You In These Sentiments, Not Only Of The Native Born Citizens, But Also Of The Germans And Foreigners From Other Countries.
Happiness
Country
Men
Much Is Being Said About Peace; And No Man Desires Peace More Ardently Than I. Still I Am Yet Unprepared To Give Up The Union Fora Peace Which, So Achieved, Could Not Be Of Much Duration.
Peace
Giving Up
Men
If We Have No Friends, We Have No Pleasure; And If We Have Them, We Are Sure To Lose Them, And Be Doubly Pained By The Loss.
Loss
No Friends
Pleasure
Tangible Language, Which Often Tells More Falsehoods Than Truths.
Tangible
Language
Appearance
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.
Men
Desire
Slavery
How Many Times Have I Laughed At You Telling Me Plainly That I Was Too Lazy To Be Anything But A Lawyer.
Law
Lazy
Lawyer
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.
Cancer
Cutting
Over You
The Surest Way To Reveal One's Character Is Not Through Adversity But By Giving Them Power.
Character
Adversity
Giving
The Mystic Chords Of Memory, Stretching From Every Battle-field, And Patriot Grave, To Every Living Heart And Hearth-stone, All Over This Broad Land, Will Yet Swell The Chorus Of The Union, When Again Touched, As Surely They Will Be, By The Better Angels Of Our Nature. --as Quoted In The River Of Winged Dreams
Dream
Nature
Memories
Slavery Is Founded On The Selfishness Of Man's Nature - Opposition To It On His Love Of Justice. These Principles Are In Eternal Antagonism; And When Brought Into Collision So Fiercely As Slavery Extension Brings Them, Shocks And Throes And Convulsions Must Ceaselessly Follow.
Love
Men
Justice
A Capacity And Taste For Reading Gives Access To Whatever Has Already Been Discovered By Others.
Book
Reading
Giving
The Good Old Maxims Of The Bible Are Applicable, And Truly Applicable To Human Affairs, And In This As In Other Things, We May Say Here That He Who Is Not For Us Is Against Us; He Would Gathereth Not With Us Scattereth.
Religious
May
Affair
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.
Christian
Men
Games
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.
Mind
Scratches
Steel
This Human Struggle And Scramble For Office, For A Way To Live Without Work, Will Finally Test The Strength Of Our Institutions.
Struggle
Office
Way To Live
Our Attitude Is More Honest And More Consistent Than Our Words.
Attitude
Stay Positive
Our Words
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.
Bible
God
Religious
If Any Personal Description Of Me Is Thought Desirable, It May Be Said, I Am, In Height, Six Feet, Four Inches, Nearly; Lean In Flesh, Weighing On An Average One Hundred And Eighty Pounds; Dark Complexion, With Coarse Black Hair, And Grey Eyes -- No Other Marks Or Brands Recollected.
Eye
Dark
Hair
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.
Country
Husband
Wife
Extemporaneous Speaking Should Be Practised [sic] And Cultivated. It Is The Lawyer's Avenue To The Public. However Able And Faithful He May Be In Other Respects, People Are Slow To Bring Him Business If He Cannot Make A Speech. And Yet There Is Not A More Fatal Error To Young Lawyers Than Relying Too Much On Speech-making. If Any One, Upon His Rare Powers Of Speaking, Shall Claim An Exemption From The Drudgery Of The Law, His Case Is A Failure In Advance.
Law
Errors
People
I Remember My Mother's Prayers And They Have Always Followed Me. They Have Clung To Me All My Life.
Life
Family
Mothers Day
Now What Is Judge Douglas Popular Sovereignty? It Is, As A Principle, No Other Than That, If One Man Chooses To Make A Slave Of Another Man, Neither That Other Man Nor Anybody Else Has A Right To Object.
Men
Judging
Principles
Most Folks Are As Happy As They Make Up Their Minds To Be.
Inspirational
Motivational
Positive
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.
Government
Might
Election
I Go For All Sharing The Privileges Of The Government Who Assist In Bearing Its Burdens.
Government
Admitting
Privilege
If You Understand What You're Doing, You're Not Learning Anything.
Doing You
Ifs
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.
Freedom
Fire
Democracies Have
I Can Make More Generals, But Horses Cost Money.
Money
Horse
War
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.
Book
Reading
Wish
Teach The Children So It Will Not Be Necessary To Teach The Adults.
Inspirational
Teacher
Children
As We Keep Or Break The Sabbath Day We Nobly Save Or Meanly Lose The Last Best Hope By Which Man Rises.
Men
Lasts
Break
Money Possesses No Value To The State Other Than That Given To It By Circulation.
States
Given
Circulation
Our Progress In Degeneracy Appears To Me To Be Pretty Rapid.
Progress
Rapids
I Am Now The Most Miserable Man Living. If What I Feel Were Felt By The Whole Human Race, There Would Not Be One Cheerful Face Left On Earth.
Depression
Men
Race
In 1841 You And I Had Together A Tedious Low-water Trip, On A Steam Boat From Louisville To St. Louis. You May Remember, As I Well Do, That From Louisville To The Mouth Of The Ohio There Were, On Board, Ten Or A Dozen Slaves, Shackled Together With Irons. That Sight Was A Continual Torment To Me; And I See Something Like It Every Time I Touch The Ohio, Or Any Other Slave-border.
Sight
Ohio
Iron
Free Labor Has The Inspiration Of Hope; Pure Slavery Has No Hope.
Inspiration
Slave Labor
Slavery
Both Read The Same Bible And Pray To The Same God, And Each Invokes His Aid Against The Other.
God
Civil War
Unity
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