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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.

-Abraham Lincoln

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If You Are Resolutely

Abraham Lincoln

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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.

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I Hope To Stand Firm Enough To Not Go Backward, And Yet Not Go Forward Fast Enough To Wreck The Country's Cause.

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.

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.

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

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

History Is Not History Unless It Is The Truth.

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.

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.

All Creation Is A Mine, And Every Man A Miner.

Nevertheless, Amid The Greatest Difficulties Of My Administration, When I Could Not See Any Other Resort, I Would Place My Whole Reliance On God, Knowing That All Would Go Well, And That He Would Decide For The Right.

Shall We Stop This Bleeding?

Achievement Has No Color

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?

Do I Not Damage My Enemies After I Make Them My Close Friends?

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.

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.

If I Have One Vice And I Can Call It Nothing Else It Is Not Able To Say 'no'.

I Say 'try'; If We Never Try, We Shall Never Succeed.

A Child Is A Person Who Is Going To Carry On What You Have Started ... The Fate Of Humanity Is In His Hands.

With Malice Toward None, With Charity For All, With Firmness In The Right, As God Gives Us To See The Right, Let Us Strive On To Finish The Work We Are In, To Bind Up The Nation's Wounds.

We All Declare For Liberty; But In Using The Same Word We Do Not All Mean The Same Thing. With Some The Word Liberty May Mean For Each Man To Do As He Pleases With Himself, And The Product Of His Labor; While With Others, The Same Word Many Mean For Some Men To Do As They Please With Other Men, And The Product Of Other Men's Labor. Here Are Two, Not Only Different, But Incompatible Things, Called By The Same Name - Liberty. And It Follows That Each Of The Things Is, By The Respective Parties, Called By Two Different And Incompatible Names - Liberty And Tyranny.

I Am The President Of The United States Of America, Clothed In Immense Power! You Will Procure Me These Votes.

Both Read The Same Bible And Pray To The Same God, And Each Invokes His Aid Against The 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.

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

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 Very Spot Where Grew The Bread That Formed My Bones, I See. How Strange, Old Field, On Thee To Tread, And Feel I'm Part Of Thee.

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.

Writing, The Art Of Communicating Thoughts To The Mind Through The Eye, Is The Great Invention Of The World.

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

The Blessing Always Comes Back To The Door Of The Author.

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

Our Popular Government Has Often Been Called An Experiment. Two Points In It Our People Have Already Settled, The Successful Establishing And The Successful Administering Of It. One Still Remains, Its Successful Maintenance Against A Formidable Internal Attempt To Overthrow It.

Young Man, If God Gives Me Four Years More To Rule This Country, I Believe It Will Become What It Ought To Be-what Its Divine Author Intended It To Be-no Longer One Vast Plantation For Breeding Human Beings For The Purpose Of Lust And Bondage. But It Will Become A New Valley Of Jehoshaphat, Where All The Nations Of The Earth Will Assemble Together Under One Flag, Worshipping A Common God, And They Will Celebrate The Resurrection Of Human Freedom.

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.

I Have Never United Myself To Any Church Because I Found Difficulty In Giving My Assent Without Mental Reservation To The Long, Complicated Statements Of Christian Doctrine Which Characterize The Articles Of Belief And The Usual Confession Of Faith.

I Think I Stand Where That Man Stands.

In Those Days, Our Declaration Of Independence Was Held Sacred By All, And Thought To Include All; But Now, To Aid In The Making The Bondage Of The Negro Universal And Eternal, It Is Assailed, And Sneered At, And Construed, And Hawked At, And Torn, Till, If Its Framers Could Rise From Their Graves, They Could Not At All Recognize It.

Our Defense Is In The Preservation Of The Spirit Which Prizes Liberty As A Heritage Of All Men, In All Lands, Everywhere. Destroy This Spirit And You Have Planted The Seeds Of Despotism Around Your Own Doors.

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

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.

A Capacity And Taste For Reading Gives Access To Whatever Has Already Been Discovered By Others.

Let The People Know The Truth And The Country Is Safe.

Must I Shoot A Simple-minded Soldier Boy Who Deserts, While I Must Not Touch A Hair Of The Wily Agitator Who Induces Him To Desert? I Think That In Such A Cse To Silence The Agitator And Save The Boy Is Not Only Constitutional But Withal A Great Mercy.

My Paramount Object In This Struggle Is To Save The Union, And Is Not Either To Save Or To Destroy Slavery. If I Could Save The Union Without Freeing Any Slave I Would Do It, And If I Could Save It By Freeing All The Slaves I Would Do It; And If I Could Save It By Freeing Some And Leaving Others Alone I Would Also Do That. What I Do About Slavery, And The Colored Race, I Do Because I Believe It Helps To Save The Union; And What I Forbear, I Forbear Because I Do Not Believe It Would Help To Save The Union.

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

A Day Spent Helping No One But Yourself Is A Day Wasted.

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.

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.

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?

I Fear You Do Not Fully Comprehend The Danger Of Abridging The Liberties Of The People. Nothing But The Sternest Necessity Can Ever Justify It. A Government Had Better Go To The Extreme Of Toleration, Than To Do Aught That Could Be Construed Into An Interference With, Or To Jeopardize In Any Degree, The Common Rights Of Its Citizens.

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.

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.

Others Have Been Made Fools Of By The Girls; But, This Can Never Be With Truth Said Of Me. I Most Emphatically, In This Instance,made A Fool Of Myself.

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.

One Is A Majority If He Is Right.

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.

When Met With A Problem I Always Ask Myself What Is The Right Thing To Do And Then I Do It.

God Bless The Methodist Church - Bless All The Churches - And Blessed Be God, Who, In This Our Great Trial, Giveth Us The Churches.

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."

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

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.

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!

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

The Press Has No Better Friend Than I Am, No One Who Is More Ready To Acknowledge . . . Its Tremendous Power For Both Good And Evil.

Care For Him Who Shall Have Borne The Battle

Widows And Orphans

My Policy Is To Have No Policy.

God Is The Silent Partner In All Great Enterprises.

Faith Is Not Believing That God Can, But That God Will.

That On The First Day Of January, In The Year Of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred Ans Sixty-three, All Persons Held As Slaves Within Any State Or Designated Part Of A State, The People Whereof Shall Then Be In Rebellion Against The United States, Shall Be Then, Thence Forward, And Forever Free.

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

Behind The Cloud The Sun Is Still Shining.

Don't Interfere With Anything In The Constitution. That Must Be Maintained, For It Is The Only Safeguard Of Our Liberties.

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

The Land, The Earth God Gave To Man For His Home ... Should Never Be The Possession Of Any Man, Corporation, (or) Society ... Any More Than The Air Or Water.

I Am Not An Accomplished Lawyer.

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.

Bring Me Longstreet's Head On A Platter And The War Will Be Over

I Could Write Shorter Sermons But When I Get Started I'm Too Lazy To Stop

Fellow Countrymen: At This Second Appearing To Take The Oath Of The Presidential Office, There Is Less Occasion For An Extended Address Than There Was At The First...the Progress Of Our Arms, Upon Which All Else Chiefly Depends, Is As Well Known To The Public As To Myself; And It Is, I Trust, Reasonably Satisfactory And Encouraging To All. With High Hope For The Future, No Prediction In Regard To It Is Ventured.

It Is Most Cheering And Encouraging For Me To Know That In The Efforts Which I Have Made And Am Making For The Restoration Of A Righteous Peace To Our Country, I Am Upheld And Sustained By The Good Wishes And Prayers Of God's People. No One Is More Deeply Than Myself Aware That Without His Favor Our Highest Wisdom Is But As Foolishness And That Our Most Strenuous Efforts Would Avail Nothing In The Shadow Of His Displeasure.

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.

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

I Dared Not Trust The Case On The Presumption That The Court Knows Everything. In Fact, I Argued It On The Presumption That The Court Didn't Know Anything.

Every Head Should Be Cultivated.

Bad Promises Are Better Broken Than Kept.

We Can Succeed Only By Concert. It Is Not 'can Any Of Us Imagine Better?, But 'can We All Do Better?

And Then, The Negro Being Doomed, And Damned, And Forgotten, To Everlasting Bondage, Is The White Man Quite Certain That The Tyrant Demon Will Not Turn Upon Him Too?

...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.

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

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.

Destroy Your Enemy By Making Him Your Friend.

Powerful Life Changing

We Know Nothing Of What Will Happen In Future, But By The Analogy Of Experience.

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.

Always Remember: Life Is For Enjoying.

Inspirational Life

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

The Most Reliable Way To Predict The Future Is To Create It.

No Man Is Good Enough To Govern Another Man Without The Other's Consent.

A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand." I Believe This Government Cannot Endure, Permanently Half Slave And Half Free. I Do Not Expect The Union To Be Dissolved — I Do Not Expect The House To Fall — But I Do Expect It Will Cease To Be Divided. It Will Become All One Thing Or All The Other.

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

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

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

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

Character Is The Tree, Reputation Is The Shadow.

I Would Like To Speak In Terms Of Praise Due To The Many Brave Officers And Soldiers Who Have Fought In The Cause Of The War.

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

Stand With Anybody That Stands Right, Stand With Him While He Is Right And Part With Him When He Goes Wrong.

Nowhere In The World Is Presented A Government Of So Much Liberty And Equality. To The Humblest And Poorest Amongst Us Are Held Out The Highest Privileges And Positions. The Present Moment Finds Me At The White House, Yet There Is As Good A Chance For Your Children As There Was For My Father's.

Whenever I Hear Anyone Arguing For Slavery, I Feel A Strong Impulse To See It Tried On Him Personally.

There Is More Involved In This Contest Than Is Realized By Every One. There Is Involved In This Struggle The Question Whether Your Children And My Children Shall Enjoy The Privileges We Have Enjoyed.

Commitment Is What Transforms A Promise Into Reality.

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.

You Must Remember That Some Things Legally Right Are Not Morally Right.

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

Glory To God In The Highest, Ohio Has Saved The Nation.

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.

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.

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

My Dear Mcclellan, If You Don't Want To Use The Army I Should Like To Borrow It For A While. Yours Respectfully.

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

I Am For The People Of The Whole Nation Doing Just As They Please In All Matters Which Concern The Whole Nation; For That Of Each Part Doing Just As They Choose In All Matters Which Concern No Other Part; And For Each Individual Doing Just As He Chooses In All Matters Which Concern Nobody Else.

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.

You Can’t Make A Weak Man Strong By Making A Strong Man Weak

It Has Long Been Recognized That The Problems With Alcohol Relate Not To The Use Of A Bad Thing, But To The Abuse Of A Good Thing.

My Paramount Objective In This Struggle Is To Save The Union, And Is Not To Either Save Or Destroy Slavery.

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

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

Elections Belong To The People. It's Their Decision.

Democracies Have

The Judgments Of The Lord Are True And Righteous Altogether.

Divine Revelation

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

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.

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.

I Have Never Studied The Art Of Paying Compliments To Women; But I Must Say That If All That Has Been Said By Orators And Poets Since The Creation Of The World In Praise Of Women Were Applied To The Women Of America, It Would Not Do Them Justice For Their Conduct During This War.

With Firmness In The Right, As God Gives Us To See The Right.

When I Came Of Age I Did Not Know Much. Still Somehow, I Could Read, Write, And Cipher To The Rule Of Three.... The Little Advancei Now Have Upon This Store Of Education, I Have Picked Up From Time To Time Under The Pressure Of Necessity.

I Must Keep Some Standard Of Principle Fixed Within Myself.

You Can't Help The Poor By Being One Of Them.

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

In Times Like The Present, Men Should Utter Nothing For Which They Would Not Willingly Be Responsible Through Time And Eternity.

The One Victory We Can Ever Call Complete Will Be That One Which Proclaims That There Is Not One Slave Or One Drunkard On The Face Of God's Green Earth.

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

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

If As The Friends Of Colonization Hope, The Present And Coming Generations Of Our Countrymen Shall By Any Means, Succeed In Freeing Our Land From The Dangerous Presence Of Slavery; And, At The Same Time, In Restoring A Captive People To Their Long-lost Father-land, With Bright Prospects For The Future; And This Too, So Gradually, That Neither Races Nor Individuals Shall Have Suffered By The Change, It Will Indeed Be A Glorious Consummation.

No Man Has A Right To Judge Andrew Johnson In Any Respect Who Has Not Suffered As Much And Done As Much As He For The Nation's Sake.

What Kills A Skunk Is The Publicity It Gives Itself.

My Father Taught Me To Work; He Did Not Teach Me To Love It.

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

I Shall Always Think Of Myself First And Foremost... As A Hunter.

Allow Me To Assure You, That Suspicion And Jealousy Never Did Help Any Man In Any Situation.

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 Of The People, By The People, For The People, Shall Not Perish From The Earth.

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

I Am In Favor Of A National Bank...in Favor Of The Internal Improvements System And A High Protective Tariff.

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.

If Ever This Free People, If This Government Itself Is Ever Utterly Demoralized, It Will Come From This Incessant Human Wriggle And Struggle For Office, Which Is But A Way To Live Without Work.

I Can See How It Might Be Possible For A Man To Look Down Upon The Earth And Be An Atheist, But I Cannot Conceive How A Man Could Look Up Into The Heavens And Say There Is No God.

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.

Let Us Do Nothing Through Passion And Ill Temper.

Money Will Cease To Be Master And Become The Servant Of Humanity. Democracy Will Rise Superior To The Money Power.

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.

Legislation And Adjudication Must Follow, And Conform To, The Progress Of Society.

Progress Of Society

I Shall Do Less Whenever I Shall Believe What I Am Doing Hurts The Cause And I Shall Do More Whenever I Shall Believe Doing More Will Help The Cause. I Shall Try To Correct Errors When Shown To Be Errors And I Shall Adopt New Views So Fast As They Shall Appear To Be True Views.

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

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.

In My Entire Life I Have Only Met Four "perfect" People... And I Disliked Them All.

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.

The President Responded Very Impressively, Saying That He Was Deeply Sensible Of His Need Of Divine Assistance. He Had Sometime Thought That Perhaps He Might Be An Instrument In God's Hands Of Accomplishing A Great Work And He Certainly Was Not Unwilling To Be. Perhaps, However, God's Way Of Accomplishing The End Which The Memorialists Have In View May Be Different From Theirs.

It Will Not Do To Investigate The Subject Of Religion Too Closely, As It Is Apt To Lead To Infidelity.

I Think Slavery Is Wrong, Morally, And Politically. I Desire That It Should Be No Further Spread In These United States, And I Should Not Object If It Should Gradually Terminate In The Whole Union.

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 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.

Discourage Litigation. Persuade Your Neighbors To Compromise Whenever You Can. As A Peacemaker The Lawyer Has Superior Opportunity Of Being A Good Man. There Will Still Be Business Enough.

It Has Been Said Of The World's History Hitherto That Might Makes Right. It Is For Us And For Our Time To Reverse The Maxim, And To Say That Right Makes Might.

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.

I Was Born And Have Ever Remaind [sic] In The Most Humble Walks Of Life.

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

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

When Arguing With A Fool, Make Sure The Opponent Isn't Doing The Exact Same Thing.

The Will Of God Prevails.

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.

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

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.

Suspicions Which May Be Unjust Need Not Be Stated.

I Did Say, At Chicago, In My Speech There, That I Do Wish To See The Spread Of Slavery Arrested And To See It Placed Where The Public Mind Shall Rest In The Belief That It Is In Course Of Ultimate Extinction.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

If You Would Win A Man To Your Cause, First Convince Him That You Are His Sincere Friend.

Two Of My Favorite Things Are Sitting On My Front Porch Smoking A Pipe Of Sweet Hemp, And Playing My Hohner Harmonica.

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

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

Accounts Of Outrages Committed By Mobs Form The Every-day News Of The Times. They Have Pervaded The Country From New England To Louisiana, They Are Neither Peculiar To The Eternal Snows Of The Former Nor The Burning Suns Of The Latter; They Are Not The Creature Of Climate, Neither Are They Confined To The Slaveholding Or The Non-slaveholding States. Alike They Spring Up Among The Pleasure-hunting Masters Of Southern Slaves, And The Order-loving Citizens Of The Land Of Steady Habits. Whatever Then Their Cause May Be, It Is Common To The Whole Country.

He Who Represents Himself Has A Fool For A Client

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.

The Written Word May Be Man's Greatest Invention. It Allows Us To Converse With The Dead, The Absent, And The Unborn.

If The Union Of These States, And The Liberties Of This People, Shall Be Lost, It Is But Little To Any One Man Of Fifty-two Yearsof Age, But A Great Deal To The Thirty Millions Of People Who Inhabit These United States, And To Their Posterity In All Coming Time.

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.

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Arthur C. Clarke

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