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I Was Born Feb. 12, 1809, In Hardin County, Kentucky. My Parents Were Both Born In Virginia, Of Undistinguished Families--second Families, Perhaps I Should Say. My Mother, Who Died In My Tenth Year, Was Of A Family Of The Name Of Hanks.... My Father ... Removed From Kentucky To ... Indiana, In My Eighth Year.... It Was A Wild Region, With Many Bears And Other Wild Animals Still In The Woods. There I Grew Up.... Of Course When I Came Of Age I Did Not Know Much. Still Somehow, I Could Read, Write, And Cipher ... But That Was All.

-Abraham Lincoln

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I Was Born Feb.

Abraham Lincoln

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I Was Born Feb. 12, 1809, In Hardin County, Kentucky. My Parents Were Both Born In Virginia, Of Undistinguished Families--second Families, Perhaps I Should Say. My Mother, Who Died In My Tenth Year, Was Of A Family Of The Name Of Hanks.... My Father ... Removed From Kentucky To ... Indiana, In My Eighth Year.... It Was A Wild Region, With Many Bears And Other Wild Animals Still In The Woods. There I Grew Up.... Of Course When I Came Of Age I Did Not Know Much. Still Somehow, I Could Read, Write, And Cipher ... But That Was All.

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Laughter Can Be Used To Sooth The Mind And Get Rid Of Those Awful Thoughts.

I ... Ran For Legislature [in 1832] ... And Was Beaten-the Only Time I Have Been Beaten By The People.

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.

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

The Better Angels Of Our Nature

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.

The Judgments Of The Lord Are True And Righteous Altogether.

Divine Revelation

Let Us Diligently Apply The Means, Never Doubting That A Just God, In His Own Good Time, Will Give Us The Rightful Result.

A Right Result, At This Time, Will Be Worth More To The World, Than Ten Times The Men, And Ten Times The Money.

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

Public Opinion, Though Often Formed Upon A Wrong Basis, Yet Generally Has A Strong Underlying Sense Of Justice.

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

I Never Tire Of Reading Tom Paine.

Those Who Are Ready To Sacrifice Freedom For Security Ultimately Will Lose Both.

The World Will Little Note, Nor Long Remember What We Say Here, But It Can Never Forget What They Did Here. It Is For Us The Living, Rather, To Be Dedicated Here To The Unfinished Work Which They Who Fought Here So Nobly Advanced.

Unfinished Work

Some Day I Shall Be President.

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

To Correct The Evils, Great And Small, Which Spring From Want Of Sympathy And From Positive Enmity Among Strangers, As Nations Or As Individuals, Is One Of The Highest Functions Of Civilization.

Always Bear In Mind That Your Own Resolution To Succeed Is More Important Than Any Other.

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.

He Who Sees Cruelty And Does Nothing About It Is Himself Cruel.

The Presidency, Even To The Most Experienced Politicians, Is No Bed Of Roses; And [zachary] Taylor Like Others, Found Thorns Within It. No Human Being Can Fill That Station And Escape Censure.

So Viewing The Issue, No Choice Was Left But To Call Out The War Power Of The Government; And So To Resist Force, Employed For Its Destruction, By Force, For Its Preservation.

Law Is Nothing Else But The Best Reason Of Wise Men Applied For Ages To The Transactions And Business Of Mankind.

It Is The Quality Of Revolutions Not To Go By Old Lines Or Old Laws; But To Break Up Both, And Make New Ones.

I Don't Know Who My Grandfather Was; I Am Much More Concerned To Know What His Grandson Will Be.

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...

To Say A Sheep Has 5 Legs Doesn't Make It So.

Let No Feeling Of Discouragement Prey Upon You, And In The End You Are Sure To Succeed.

If You Understand What You're Doing, You're Not Learning Anything.

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.

I Know There Is A God, And That He Hates Injustice And Slavery. I See The Storm Coming, And I Know That His Hand Is In It. If He Has A Place And Work For Me - And I Think He Has - I Believe I Am Ready.

If You Are Resolutely Determined To Make A Lawyer Of Yourself, The Thing Is More Than Half Done Already. It Is But A Small Matter Whether You Read With Anyone Or Not. I Did Not Read With Anyone. Get The Books, And Read And Study Them Till You Understand Them In Their Principal Features; And That Is The Main Thing. It Is Of No Consequence To Be In A Large Town While You Are Reading. I Read At New Salem, Which Never Had Three Hundred People Living In It. The Books, And Your Capacity For Understanding Them, Are Just The Same In All Places.

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.

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.

I Am A Moderate Walker, However I Never Stroll Back.

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

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.

If There Is Anything Which It Is The Duty Of The Whole People To Never Entrust To Any Hands But Their Own, That Thing Is The Preservation And Perpetuity Of Their Own Liberties And Institutions.

I Pray That Our Heavenly Father May Assuage The Anguish Of Your Bereavement, And Leave You Only The Cherished Memory Of The Loved And Lost, And The Solemn Pride That Must Be Yours, To Have Laid So Costly A Sacrifice Upon The Altar Of Freedom.

Life Is Hard But So Very Beautiful

Character Is Like A Tree And Reputation Like A Shadow. The Shadow Is What We Think Of It; The Tree Is The Real Thing.

Study The Constitution. Let It Be Preached From The Pulpit, Proclaimed In Legislatures, And Enforced In Courts Of Justice.

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.

Public Sentiment Is Everything. With Public Sentiment, Nothing Can Fail. Without It, Nothing Can Succeed.

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

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.

Moral Principle Is A Looser Bond Than Pecuniary Interest.

The Worst Thing You Can Do For Those You Love Is The Things They Could And Should Do Themselves.

I Do But Quote From One Of Those Speeches When I Declare That "i Have No Purpose, Directly Or Indirectly, To Interfere With The Institution Of Slavery In The States Where It Exists. I Believe I Have No Lawful Right To Do So, And I Have No Inclination To Do So."

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 Only Assurance Of Our Nation's Safety Is To Lay Our Foundation In Morality And Religion.

It Is For Us And Our Time...to Say The Right Makes Might.

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

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

Rules Of Living Don't Worry, Eat Three Square Meals A Day,say Your Prayers, Be Courteous To Your Creditors, Keep Your Digestion Good,steer Clear Of Biliousness,exercise, Go Slow And Go Easy. May Be There Are Other Things That Your Special Case Requires To Make You Happy, But My Friend, These, I Reckon, Will Give You A Good Life.

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.

As Long As The Almighty Permitted Intelligent Men, Created In His Image And Likeness, To Fight In Public And Kill Each Other While The World Looks On Approvingly, It's Not For Me To Deprive The Chickens Of The Same Privilege.

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.

If I Gave Mcclellan All The Men He Asked For, They Could Not Find Room To Lie Down; They'd Have To Sleep Standing Up.

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 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.

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

Labor Is Prior To, And Independent Of, Capital. Capital Is Only The Fruit Of Labor, And Could Never Have Existed If Labor Had Not First Existed. Labor Is The Superior Of Capital, And Deserves Much The Higher Consideration.

I Do Not Understand That Because I Do Not Want A Negro Woman For A Slave I Must Necessarily Want Her For A Wife. My Understanding Is That I Can Just Let Her Alone.

In This Troublesome World, We Are Never Quite Satisfied. When You Were Here, I Thought You Hindered Me Some In Attending To Business; But Now, Having Nothing But Business---no Variety---it Has Grown Exceedingly Tasteless To Me. I Hate To Sit Down And Direct Documents, And I Hate To Stay In This Old Room By Myself.

There Is No Greater Injustice Than To Wring Your Profits From The Sweat Of Another Man's Brow.

Reduce The Supply Of Black Labor By Colonizing The Black Laborer Out Of The Country, And By Precisely So Much You Increase The Demand For And Wages Of White Labor.

No One Has Needed Favours More Than I, And Generally, Few Have Been Less Unwilling To Accept Them; But In This Case, Favour To Me,would Be Injustice To The Public, And Therefore I Must Beg Your Pardon For Declining It.

Now, And Ever, I Shall Do All In My Power For Peace, Consistently With The Maintenance Of Government.

Work, Work, Work, Is The Main Thing.

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 Do The Very Best I Know How - The Very Best I Can; And I Mean To Keep Doing So Until The End. If The End Brings Me Out All Right, What's Said Against Me Won't Amount To Anything. If The End Brings Me Out Wrong, Ten Angels Swearing I Was Right Would Make No Difference.

I Am Always For The Man Who Wishes To Work.

In Regard To This Great Book, I Have But To Say, It Is The Best Gift God Has Given To Man.

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

If Ever I Feel The Soul Within Me Elevate And Expand To Those Dimensions, Not Wholly Unworthy Of Its Almighty Architect, It Is When I Contemplate The Cause Of My Country, Deserted By All The World Beside, And I Standing Up Boldly, Alone, Hurling Defiance At Her Victorious Oppressors.

In Your Hands, My Dissatisfied Fellow Countrymen, And Not In Mine, Is The Momentous Issue Of Civil War. The Government Will Not Assail You.... You Have No Oath Registered In Heaven To Destroy The Government, While I Shall Have The Most Solemn One To Preserve, Protect And Defend It.

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.

A Man's Legs Must Be Long Enough To Reach The Ground.

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.

If All Do Not Join Now To Save The Good Old Ship Of The Union This Voyage Nobody Will Have A Chance To Pilot Her On Another Voyage.

Four Score And Seven Years Ago Our Fathers Brought Forth On This Continent, A New Nation, Conceived In Liberty, And Dedicated To The Proposition That All Men Are Created Equal.

If There Is No Military Need For The Building, Leave It Alone, Neither Putting Anyone In Or Out Of It, Except On Finding Some One Preaching Or Practicing Treason, In Which Case Lay Hands On Him, Just As If He Were Doing The Same Thing In Any Other Building.

The Best Way To Destroy An Enemy Is To Make Him A Friend.

I Believe Each Individual Is Naturally Entitled To Do As He Pleases With Himself And The Fruit Of His Labor, So Far As It In No Wise Interferes With Any Other Mans Rightsthat Each Community, As A State, Has A Right To Do Exactly As It Pleases With All The Concerns Within That State That Interfere With The Right Of No Other State, And That The General Government, Upon Principle, Has No Right To Interfere With Anything Other Than That General Class Of Things That Does Concern The Whole.

We Cannot But Believe That He Who Made The World Still Governs It.

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.

In Using The Strong Hand, As Now Compelled To Do, The Government Has A Difficult Duty To Perform. At The Very Best, It Will By Turns Do Both Too Little And Too Much. It Can Properly Have No Motive Of Revenge, No Purpose To Punish Merely For Punishment's Sake. While We Must, By All Available Means, Prevent The Overthrow Of The Government, We Should Avoid Planting And Cultivating Too Many Thorns In The Bosom Of Society.

No Man Ever Got Lost On A Straight Road.

We All Declare For Liberty, But In Using The Same Word We Do Not All Mean The Same Thing.

The Damnest Scoundrel That Ever Lived, But In The Infinite Mercy Of Providence... Also The Damnest Fool.

One Section Of Our Country Believes Slavery Is Right, And Ought To Be Extended, While The Other Believes It Is Wrong, And Ought Not To Be Extended.

Why Should There Not Be A Patient Confidence In The Ultimate Justice Of The People? Is There Any Better Or Equal Hope In The World?

We, On Our Side, Are Praying To Him To Give Us Victory, Because We Believe We Are Right; But Those On The Other Side Pray To Him, Look For Victory, Believing They Are Right. What Must He Think Of Us?

Without Slavery The Rebellion Could Never Have Existed; Without Slavery It Could Not Continue.

The Enthusiastic Uprising Of The People In Our Cause, Is Our Great Reliance; And We Can Not Safely Give It Any Check, Even Thoughit Overflows, And Runs In Channels Not Laid Down In Any Chart.

Any Society That Takes Away From Those Most Capable And Gives To The Least Will Perish.

Teach Economy. That Is One Of The First And Highest Virtues. It Begins With Saving Money.

A Long Visit To A Friend Is Often A Great Bore. Never Make People Twice Glad.

Inspirational Life

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

New Relationship

Am I Not Destroying My Enemies When I Make Friends Of Them?

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

It Is A Pleasure To Be Able To Quote Lines To Fit Any Occasion.

The Working Men Are The Basis Of All Governments, For The Plain Reason That They Are The Most Numerous.

The Worst Thing You Can Do For Anyone You Care About Is Anything That They Can Do On Their Own.

Be Sure You Put Your Feet In The Right Place, Then Stand Firm.

Beware Of Rashness, But With Energy And Sleepless Vigilance Go Forward And Give Us Victories.

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.

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.

The Only Security A Man Can Ever Have Is The Ability To Do A Job Uncommonly Well.

I Have Two Great Enemies, The Southern Army In Front Of Me And The Bankers In The Rear. Of The Two, The One At My Rear Is My Greatest Foe.

In This Sad World Of Ours, Sorrow Comes To All, And It Comes With Bitter Agony. Perfect Relief Is Not Possible, Except With The Passing Of Time.

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

I Have Always Believed That A Good Laugh Was Good For Both The Mental And Physical Digestion.

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

Great Distance In Either Time Or Space Has Wonderful Power To Lull And Render Quiescent The Human Mind.

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.

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.

The Father Of Waters Again Goes Unvexed To The Sea.

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

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.

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

Free Labor Has The Inspiration Of Hope; Pure Slavery Has No Hope.

Well, I Wish Some Of You Would Tell Me The Brand Of Whiskey That Grant Drinks. I Would Like To Send A Barrel Of It To My Other Generals.

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.

I Have No Wealthy Or Popular Relations To Recommend Me.

My God! My God! What Will The Country Say?

Both Parties Deprecated War; But One Of Them Would Make War Rather Than Let The Nation Survive; And The Other Would Accept War Rather Than Let It Perish. And The War Came.

Kindness Is The Only Service That Will Stand The Storm Of Life And Not Wash Out.

I Have Always Thought That All Men Should Be Free; But If Any Should Be Slaves, It Should Be First Those Who Desire For Themselves, And Secondly Those Who Desire It For Others. Whenever I Hear Anyone Arguing For Slavery, I Feel A Strong Impulse To See It Tried On Him Personally.

Honor To The Soldier And Sailor Everywhere, Who Bravely Bears His Country's Cause. Honor, Also, To The Citizen Who Cares For His Brother In The Field And Serves, As He Best Can, The Same Cause.

You Can't Escape Tomorrow's Responsibilities By Evading It Today

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.

The Government Should Create, Issue, And Circulate All The Currency And Credits Needed To Satisfy The Spending Power Of The Government And The Buying Power Of Consumers. By The Adoption Of These Principles, The Taxpayers Will Be Saved Immense Sums Of Interest. Money Will Cease To Be Master And Become The Servant Of Humanity.

I Have Stepped Out Upon This Platform That I May See You And That You May See Me, And In The Arrangement I Have The Best Of The Bargain.

If 600,000 People Have To Die In Order For The Nation To Live, Then 600,000 People Will Die.

The Struggle Of Today, Is Not Altogether For Today - It Is For A Vast Future Also. With A Reliance On Providence, All The More Firm And Earnest, Let Us Proceed In The Great Task Which Events Have Devolved Upon Us.

I Turn, Then, And Look To The American People And To That God Who Has Never Forsaken Them.

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

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!

War, At The Best, Is Terrible, And This War Of Ours, In Its Magnitude And In Its Duration, Is One Of The Most Terrible.

I Am For Liberty Of Conscience In Its Noblest, Broadest, And Highest Sense. But I Cannot Give Liberty Of Conscience To The Pope And His Followers, The Papists, So Long As They Tell Me, Through All Their Councils, Theologians, And Canon Laws That Their Conscience Orders Them To Burn My Wife, Strangle My Children, And Cut My Throat When They Find Their Opportunity.

[i]f The Policy Of The Government, Upon Vital Questions Affecting, The Whole People Is To Be Irrevocably Fixed By Decisions Of The Supreme Court, The Instant They Are Made, In Ordinary Litigation Between Parties In Personal Actions, The People Will Have Ceased, To Be Their Own Rulers, Having, To That Extent, Practically Resigned Their Government, Into The Hands Of That Eminent Tribunal.

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

Offering Thanks In The Midst Of Tragedy Is An American Tradition, . Even During A Bloody Civil War.

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.

My Father, At The Death Of His Father, Was But Six Years Of Age; And He Grew Up, Literally Without Education.

Tell The Truth And You Won't Have So Much To Remember

Telling The Truth

No Duty Is More Imperative For The Government Than The Duty It ;owes The People To Furnish Them With A Sound And Uniform Currency, An Of Regulating The Circulation Of The Medium Of Exchange So That Labor Will Be Protected From A Vicious Currency [private Bank-created, Interest-bearing Debt], And Commerce Will Be Facilitated By Cheap And Safe Exchanges.

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

Emancipation Proclamation

I Know Not How To Aid You, Save In The Assurance Of One Of Mature Age, And Much Severe Experience, That You Can Not Fail, If You Resolutely Determine, That You Will Not.

As President, I Have No Eyes But Constitutional Eyes; I Cannot See You.

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.

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

The Strength Of A Nation Lies In The Homes Of Its People.

As The Chief Speaker At The Dedication Of The National Cemetery At The Gettysburg Battlefield, Statesman Edward Everett Wrote To Lincoln: I Should Be Glad If I Could Flatter Myself That I Came As Near To The Central Idea Of The Occasion In Two Hours As You Did In Two Minutes.

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

When We Were The Political Slaves Of King George, And Wanted To Be Free, We Called The Maxim That "all Men Are Created Equal" A Self Evident Truth; But Now When We Have Grown Fat, And Have Lost All Dread Of Being Slaves Ourselves, We Have Become So Greedy To Be Masters That We Call The Same Maxim "a Self Evident Lie" The Fourth Of July Has Not Quite Dwindled Away; It Is Still A Great Day-for Burning Fire-crackers!!!

I Can Make Brigadier Generals, But I Can't Make Horses.

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

When You Lack Interest In The Case The Job Will Very Likely Lack Skill And Diligence In The Performance.

I Find Quite As Much Material For A Lecture In Those Points Wherein I Have Failed, As In Those Wherein I Have Been Moderately Successful.

It's Bad. It's Damned Bad.

Of Our Political Revolution Of '76, We All Are Justly Proud. It Has Given Us A Degree Of Political Freedom, Far Exceeding That Of Any Other Nation Of The Earth. In It The World Has Found A Solution Of The Long Mooted Problem, As To The Capability Of Man To Govern Himself. In It Was The Germ Which Has Vegetated, And Still Is To Grow And Expand Into The Universal Liberty Of Mankind.

Political Revolution

I Go For All Sharing The Privileges Of The Government Who Assist In Bearing Its Burdens.

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.

The Bible Is Not My Book And Christianity Is Not My Religion. I Could Never Give Assent To The Long Complicated Statements Of Christian Dogma.

Lamon, That Speech Won't Scour. It Is A Flat Failure And The People Are Disappointed.

I Was Raised To Farm Work.

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

Hope For The Future

I Can Make More Generals, But Horses Cost Money.

Labor Is The True Standard Of Value.

There Is No America Without Labor, And To Fleece The One Is To Rob The Other.

With The Fearful Strain That Is On Me Night And Day, If I Did Not Laugh I Should Die.

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.

Our Attitude Is More Honest And More Consistent Than Our Words.

Upon This Subject, The Habits Of Our Whole Species Fall Into Three Great Classes--useful Labour, Useless Labour And Idleness. Of These The First Only Is Meritorious; And To It All The Products Of Labour Rightfully Belong; But The Two Latter, While They Exist, Are Heavy Pensioners Upon The First, Robbing It Of A Large Portion Of It's Just Rights. The Only Remedy For This Is To, As Far As Possible, Drive Useless Labour And Idleness Out Of Existence.

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.

When I Left Springfield [to Become President] I Asked The People To Pray For Me. I Was Not A Christian. When I Buried My Son, The Severest Trial Of My Life, I Was Not A Christian. But When I Went To Gettysburg And Saw The Graves Of Thousands Of Our Soldiers, I Then And There Consecrated Myself To Christ.

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

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.

It Is Not Our Frowning Battlements...or The Strength Our Gallant And Disciplined Army? These Are Not Our Reliance Against A Resumption Of Tyranny In Our Fair Land... Our Defense Is In The Preservation Of The Spirit Which Prizes Liberty As The Heritage Of All Men, In All Lands, Everywhere.

If We Know Where We Are And Something About How We Got There, We Might See Where We Are Trending - And If The Outcomes Which Lie Naturally In Our Course Are Unacceptable, To Make Timely Change.

Repeal The Missouri Compromise - Repeal All Compromises - Repeal The Declaration Of Independence - Repeal All Past History, You Still Can Not Repeal Human Nature. It Still Will Be The Abundance Of Man's Heart, That Slavery Extension Is Wrong; And Out Of The Abundance Of His Heart, His Mouth Will Continue To Speak.

Towering Genius Disdains A Beaten Path. It Seeks Regions Hitherto Unexplored.

The Best Time To Stop A Fight Is Before It Starts. The Best Vitamin For Developing Friends Is B1. The Best Way To Destroy An Enemy In To Make Him A Friend.

Without Divine Assistance I Can Not Succeed; With It I Can Not Fail.

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

I Belive That People Should Fight For What They Believe And Only What They Believe.

He Will Have To Learn, I Know, That All People Are Not Just- That All Men And Women Are Not True. Teach Him That For Every Scoundrel There Is A Hero That For Every Enemy There Is A Friend. Let Him Learn Early That The Bullies Are The Easiest People To Lick.

When I Hear A Man Preach, I Like To See Him Act As If He Were Fighting Bees.

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?"

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.

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 Hope It Will Not Be Irreverent For Me To Say That If It Is Probable That God Would Reveal His Will To Others, On A Point So Connected With My Duty, It Might Be Supposed He Would Reveal It Directly To Me... These Are Not, However, The Days Of Miracles ... I Must Study The Plain Physical Facts Of The Case, Ascertain What Is Possible, And Learn What Appears To Be Wise And Right.

By Adoption Of These Principles, The Long-felt Want For A Uniform Medium Will Be Satisfied. The Taxpayers Will Be Saved Immense Sums Of Interest, Discounts, And Exchanges. The Financing Of All Public Enterprises, The Maintenance Of Stable Government And Ordered Progress, And The Conduct Of The Treasury Will Become Matters Of Practical Administration. The People Can And Will Be Furnished With A Currency As Safe As Their Own Government.

I Shall Adopt New Views As Fast As They Shall Appear To Be True Views.

Fellow-citizens, We Cannot Escape History. We Of This Congress And This Administration, Will Be Remembered In Spite Of Ourselves. No Personal Significance, Or Insignificance, Can Spare One Or Another Of Us. The Fiery Trial Through Which We Pass, Will Light Us Down, In Honor Or Dishonor, To The Latest Generation.

An Inspection Of The Constitution Will Show That The Right Of Property In A Slave In Not "distinctly And Expressly Affirmed" In It.

There Is Another Old Poet Whose Name I Do Not Now Remember Who Said, 'truth Is The Daughter Of Time.'

The Lord Spared The Fitten And The Rest He Seen Fitten To Die.

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