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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.
-Abraham Lincoln
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It Is Easiest To

Abraham Lincoln
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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.

Understanding the Quote: "it is easiest to "be all things to all men," but it..."

This quote by Abraham Lincoln reflects deeply on the theme of men. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Men, Self, Hours In The Day, 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 men and self. 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
Men
Self
Hours In The Day
More From Abraham Lincoln
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.
Christian
Religious
War
If There Is Anything That Links The Human To The Divine, It Is The Courage To Stand By A Principle When Everybody Else Rejects It.
Principles
Links
Divine
Its Authors Meant It To Be... A Stumbling Block To Those Who In After Times Might Seek To Turn A Free People Back Into The Hateful Paths Of Despotism. They Knew The Proneness Of Prosperity To Breed Tyrants, And They Meant When Such Should Re-appear In This Fair Land And Commence Their Vocation They Should Find Left For Them At Least One Hard Nut To Crack.
Block
Nuts
Land
Don't Pray That God's On Our Side, Pray That We're On His Side.
Sides
Praying
If You Intend To Go To Work There Is No Better Place Than Right Where You Are; If You Do Not Intend To Go To Work, You Can Not Get Along Anywhere.
Work
Where You Are
Can Not
I Never Had A Policy; I Have Just Tried To Do My Very Best Each And Every Day.
Motivational
Integrity
Character
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.
Humble
Hands
People
[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
The Only Security A Man Can Ever Have Is The Ability To Do A Job Uncommonly Well.
Jobs
Men
Goal
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.
Mean
Fool
Dare
I Would Rather Be A Little Nobody, Then To Be A Evil Somebody.
Bullying
Kids
Evil
It Is Bad To Be Poor. I Shall Go To The Wall For Bread And Meat, If I Neglect My Business This Year As Well As Last.
Wall
Years
Meat
The Purposes Of The Almighty Are Perfect, And Must Prevail, Though We Erring Mortals May Fail To Accurately Perceive Them In Advance.
Perfect
Purpose
May
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.
God
Wise
War
You Dislike The Emancipation Proclamation; And, Perhaps, Would Have It Retracted. You Say It Is Unconstitutional - I Think Differently.
War
Thinking
Emancipation Proclamation
There Is A Vague Popular Belief That Lawyers Are Necessarily Dishonest. I Say Vague, Because When We Consider To What Extent Confidence And Honors Are Reposed In And Conferred Upon Lawyers By The People, It Appears Improbable That Their Impression Of Dishonesty Is Very Distinct And Vivid. Yet The Impression Is Common, Almost Universal.
People
Honor
Vivid
The Trouble With Too Many People Is They Believe The Realm Of Truth Always Lies Within Their Vision.
Truth
Lying
Believe
Abraham Lincoln Was Asked By An Aide About The Church Service He Had Attended. Lincoln Responded That The Minister Was Inspired, Interesting, Well-prepared, Eloquent And The Topic Relevant. The Aide Said, “then It Was A Good Service?” Lincoln Responded, “no.” The Aide Protested, “but, Mr. President, You Said That The Minister Was Inspired, Interesting, Well-prepared, Eloquent, And That The Topic Was Relevant.” “yes,” Replied Lincoln, “but He Didn’t Challenge Us To Do Any Great Thing.
Church Service
Interesting
Challenges
You Can Always Lie To Others And Hide Your Actions From Them... But You Can Not Fool Yourself
Encouragement
Lying
Fool
It's Time For Me To Go. But I Would Rather Stay.
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.
Fighting
Negotiating
Ifs
Why Don't I Drink From A Straw? Because Straws Are For Suckers.
Drinking
President
Politician
What Has Ever Threatened Our Liberty And Prosperity Save And Except This Institution Of Slavery?
Liberty
Slavery
Prosperity
The Shepherd Drives The Wolf From The Sheep's For Which The Sheep Thanks The Shepherd As His Liberator, While The Wolf Denounces Him For The Same Act As The Destroyer Of Liberty. Plainly, The Sheep And The Wolf Are Not Agreed Upon A Definition Of Liberty.
Sheep
Agreement
Civil War
Behind The Cloud The Sun Is Still Shining.
Encouraging
Uplifting
Healing
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.
Religious
Views
Hands
Elections Belong To The People. It's Their Decision.
Democracies Have
People
Voting
I Laugh Because I Must Not Cry, That Is All, That Is All.
Hope
Laughter
Laughing
Everybody Appreciates A Compliment.
Appreciate
Compliment
I Don't Like That Man. I Must Get To Know Him Better.
Positive
Wisdom
Attitude
The Blessing Always Comes Back To The Door Of The Author.
Blessing
Doors
We All Declare For Liberty, But In Using The Same Word We Do Not All Mean The Same Thing.
Mean
Civil War
Liberty
Quarrel Not At All. No Man Resolved To Make The Most Of Himself Can Spare Time For Personal Contention.
Life
Past
Men
All Things Desirable To Men Are Contained In The Bible.
Men
All Things
Desirable
Now, At The End Of Three Years Struggle The Nation's Condition Is Not What Either Party, Or Any Man Devised, Or Expected. God Alone Can Claim It.
God
Party
Struggle
I Believe That Every Individual Is Naturally Entitled To Do As He Pleases With Himself And The Fruits Of His Labor, So Far As It In No Way Interferes With Any Other Men's Rights.
Believe
Men
Rights
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.
Believe
Fall
Government
Give Me Six Hours To Chop Down A Tree And I Will Spend The First Four Sharpening The Axe.
Inspirational
Motivational
Leadership
This Is Essentially A People's Contest... Whose Leading Object Is To Elevate The Condition Of Men - To Lift Artificial Weights From All Shoulders - To Clear The Paths Of Laudable Pursuit For All - To Afford All, An Unfettered Start And A Fair Chance, In The Race Of Life.
Men
Race
People
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
In Times Like The Present, Men Should Utter Nothing For Which They Would Not Willingly Be Responsible Through Time And Eternity.
Responsibility
Men
Eternity
As An Individual Who Undertakes To Live By Borrowing, Soon Finds His Original Means Devoured By Interest, And Next No One Left To Borrow From - So Must It Be With A Government.
Mean
Government
Individuality
Peace Will Come Soon To Stay, And So Come As To Be Worth Keeping In All Future Time. It Will Then Have Proved That Among Free Men There Can Be No Successful Appeal From The Ballot To The Bullet, And That They Who Take Such Appeal Are Sure Their Cases And Pay The Costs.
Military
Successful
Men
Surely He Intends Some Great Good To Follow This Mighty Convulsion Which No Mortal Could Make, And No Mortal Could Stay.
God
God Knows Best
Mortals
Always Bear In Mind That Your Own Resolution To Succeed Is More Important Than Any Other.
Inspirational
Motivational
Positive
The Bible Says Somewhere That We Are Desperately Selfish. I Think We Would Have Discovered That Fact Without The Bible.
Religious
Selfish
Thinking
A Majority Held In Restraint By Constitutional Checks And Limitations, And Always Changing Easily With Deliberate Changes Of Popular Opinions And Sentiments, Is The Only True Sovereign Of A Free People. Whoever Rejects It Does Of Necessity Fly To Anarchy Or To Despotism. Unanimity Is Impossible. The Rule Of A Minority, As A Permanent Arrangement, Is Wholly Inadmissible; So That, Rejecting The Majority Principle, Anarchy Or Despotism In Some Form Is All That Is Left.
People
Majority
Principles
Two Of My Favorite Things Are Sitting On My Front Porch Smoking A Pipe Of Sweet Hemp, And Playing My Hohner Harmonica.
Weed
Sweet
Marijuana
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.
Children
Father
White
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.
Christian
Son
People
We Seek Not To Overthrow The Constitution, But To Overthrow Those Who Would Prevert It.
Constitution
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.
Fighting
Enemy
Way
When I Get Ready To Talk To People, I Spend Two Thirds Of The Time Thinking What They Want To Hear And One Third Thinking About What I Want To Say.
Thinking
Two
People
Singular Indeed The People Should Be Writhing Under Oppression And Injury, And Yet Not One Among Them To Be Found, To Raise The Voice Of Complaint.
Voice
People
Oppression
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.
Mean
People
Civil War
Towering Genius Disdains A Beaten Path ... It Scorns To Tread In The Footsteps Of Any Predecessor, However Illustrious. It Thirsts For Distinction.
Genius
Path
Distinction
You Can't Help The Poor By Being One Of Them.
Helping
Poor
Help The Poor
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.
Children
Cutting
Opportunity
Force Is All Conquering, But It's Victories Are Short Lived.
Life
War
Humor
If You Love Something, Set It Free.
Love
Modern Family
Getting Back Together
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.
Rights
Tyrants
Justice
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.
Inspirational
Wisdom
Truth
The Dogmas Of The Quiet Past Are Inadequate To The Stormy Present. The Occasion Is Piled High With Difficulty, And We Must Rise To The Occasion. We Cannot Escape History. We Will Be Remembered In Spite Of Ourselves. The Fiery Trial Through Which We Pass Will Light Us Down In Honour Or Dishonour, To The Last Generation. We Shall Nobly Save, Or Meanly Lose, Our Last Best Hope Of Earth.
Peace
War
Past
I ... Ran For Legislature [in 1832] ... And Was Beaten-the Only Time I Have Been Beaten By The People.
People
Legislature
Beaten
Slavery Is Wrong. If Slavery Is Right, All Words, Acts, Laws, And Constitutions Against It, Are Themselves Wrong, And Should Be Silenced, And Swept Away.
Law
Slavery
Constitution
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
The Government Will Support You To The Utmost Of Its Ability, Which Is Neither More Nor Less Than It Has Done And Will Do For Allcommanders.
Support You
Government
Done
Why Don't You Laugh? If I Did Not Laugh I Should Die, And You Need This Medicine As Much As I Do.
Laughter
Medicine
Laughing
Every Man Has A Right To Be Equal With Every Other Man.
Men
Civil War
Equal
I Go For All Sharing The Privileges Of The Government Who Assist In Bearing Its Burdens.
Government
Admitting
Privilege
If The American People Could Learn What I Know Of The Fierce Hatred Of The Priests Of Rome Against Our Institutions, Our Schools, Our Most Sacred Rights, And Our So Dearly Bought Liberties, They Would Drive Them Out As Traitors.
School
Rights
Rome
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.
Loyalty
Country
Father
The Eyes Of That Species Of Extinct Giant, Whose Bones Fill The Mounds Of America, Have Gazed On Niagara As Our Eyes Do Now.
Eye
America
Nephilim
While We Are Grateful To All The Brave Men And Officers For The Events Of The Past Few Days, We Should, Above All, Be Very Grateful To Almighty God, Who Gives Us Victory.
Religious
Grateful
Past
When I So Pressingly Urge A Strict Observance Of All The Laws, Let Me Not Be Understood As Saying There Are No Bad Laws, Nor That Grievances May Not Arise, For The Redress Of Which, No Legal Provisions Have Been Made. I Mean To Say No Such Thing. But I Do Mean To Say, That, Although Bad Laws, If They Exist, Should Be Repealed As Soon As Possible, Still While They Continue In Force, For The Sake Of Example, They Should Be Religiously Observed.
Mean
Law
Example
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. That Every Man May Receive At Least A Moderate Education...appears To Be An Object Of Vital Importance...
Education
Teacher
Teaching
In A Certain Sense, And To A Certain Extent, He [the President] Is The Representative Of The People. He Is Elected By Them, As Well As Congress Is. But Can He, In The Nature [of] Things, Know The Wants Of The People, As Well As Three Hundred Other Men, Coming From All The Various Localities Of The Nation? If So, Where Is The Propriety Of Having A Congress?
Nature
Men
People
In All That People Can Do For Themselves, Government Ought Not To Interfere.
Government
People
Ought
The Foregoing History May Not Be Precisely Accurate In Every Particular; But I Am Sure It Is Sufficiently So, For All The Uses I Shall Attempt To Make Of It, And In It, We Have Before Us, The Chief Material Enabling Us To Correctly Judge Whether The Repeal Of The Missouri Compromise Is Right Or Wrong.
Judging
Enabling
May
Every One Desires To Live Long, But No One Would Be Old.
Time
Eyelashes
Long
The Plainest Print Cannot Be Read Through A Gold Eagle.
Money
Eagles
Gold
Take All That You Can Of This Book Upon Reason, And The Balance On Faith, And You Will Live And Die A Happier Man. (when A Skeptic Expressed Surprise To See Him Reading A Bible)
Bible
Faith
Book
The World Shall Know That I Will Keep My Faith To Friends And Enemies, Come What Will.
Enemy
World
Friends And Enemies
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.
Political
Civil War
Trying
Gold Is Good In Its Place, But Living, Brave, Patriotic Men Are Better Than Gold.
Patriotic
Men
Brave
With This Honor Devolves Upon You Also A Corresponding Responsibility. As The Country Herein Trusts You, So Under God It Will Sustain You.
Country
War
Responsibility
Be Excellent And Party On Dudes.
Funny
Life
Party
While The People Retain Their Virtue And Vigilance, No Administration, By Any Extreme Of Wickedness Or Folly, Can Very Seriously Injure The Government In The Short Space Of Four Years.
Government
Years
Space
It Is A Good Face. I Am Glad This War Is Over At Last.
War
Lasts
Faces
With The Fearful Strain That Is On Me Night And Day, If I Did Not Laugh I Should Die.
Happiness
Smile
Laughter
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.
God
Memories
Father
Among Free Men There Can Be No Successful Appeal From The Ballot To The Bullet.
Successful
Men
Voting
Next Came The Patent Laws. These Began In England In 1624; And, In This Country, With The Adoption Of Our Constitution. Before Then [these?], Any Man Might Instantly Use What Another Had Invented; So That The Inventor Had No Special Advantage From His Own Invention. The Patent System Changed This; Secured To The Inventor, For A Limited Time, The Exclusive Use Of His Invention; And Thereby Added The Fuel Of Interest To The Fire Of Genius, In The Discovery And Production Of New And Useful Things.
Country
Science
Men
Now, I Confess Myself As Belonging To That Class In The Country Who Contemplate Slavery As A Moral, Social And Political Evil, Having Due Regard For Its Actual Existence Amongst Us And The Difficulties Of Getting Rid Of It In Any Satisfactory Way, And To All The Constitutional Obligations Which Have Been Thrown About It; But, Nevertheless, Desire A Policy That Looks To The Prevention Of It As A Wrong, And Looks Hopefully To The Time When As A Wrong It May Come To An End.
Country
Class
Evil
A Man Is About As Happy As He Makes Up His Mind To Be.
Men
Mind
Too Many Piglets Not Enough Tits.
Stupidity
Piglet
Enough
You Can Have Anything You Want If You Want It Badly Enough. You Can Be Anything You Want To Be, Do Anything You Set Out To Accomplish If You Hold To That Desire With Singleness Of Purpose.
Inspirational
Life
Motivational
When You Make It To The Top, Turn And Reach Down For The Person Behind You.
Behind You
Turns
Persons
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.
Office
Presidential
Progress
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.
War
Party
Acceptance
There' S Nothing Good In War. Except Its Ending.
War
Call Of Duty
Good War
I Wish All Men To Be Free. I Wish The Material Prosperity Of The Already Free Which I Feel Sure The Extinction Of Slavery Would Bring.
Men
Wish
Slavery
Negroes, Like Other People, Act Upon Motives. Why Should They Do Anything For Us, If We Will Do Nothing For Them? If They Stake Their Lives For Us, They Must Be Prompted By The Strongest Motive, Even The Promise Of Freedom. And The Promise Being Made, Must Be Kept.
People
Promise
Made
As To Your Kind Wishes For Myself, Allow Me To Say I Can Not Enter The Ring On The Money Basis--first, Because, In The Main, It Iswrong; And Secondly, I Have Not, And Can Not Get, The Money. I Say, In The Main, The Use Of Money Is Wrong; But For Certain Objects, In A Political Contest, The Use Of Some, Is Both Right, And Indispensable.
Money
Political
Wish
The Strongest Bond Of Human Sympathy Outside The Family Relation Should Be One Uniting Working People Of All Nations And Tongues And Kindreds.
Sympathy
Peace
People
The Man Does Not Live Who Is More Devoted To Peace Than I Am. None Who Would Do More To Preserve It.
Men
Doe
He Man
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
God Must Love The Common Man, He Made So Many Of Them.
Love
God
Men
Next To Creating A Life The Finest Thing A Man Can Do Is Save One.
Men
Creating
Next
A Prohibition Law Strikes A Blow At The Very Principles Upon Which Our Government Was Founded.
Weed
Blow
Marijuana
Politicians Are A Set Of Men Who Have Interests Aside From The Interests Of The People And Who, To Say The Most Of Them, Are, Taken As A Mass, At Least One Long Step Removed From Honest Men
Taken
Men
Long
It Will Not Do To Investigate The Subject Of Religion Too Closely, As It Is Apt To Lead To Infidelity.
Life
Atheist
Infidelity
Friendship Is The Start For What You Call Love.
Don't Interfere With Anything In The Constitution. That Must Be Maintained, For It Is The Only Safeguard Of Our Liberties.
Veterans Day
Our Veterans
Us Veterans
I Am A Little Uneasy About The Abolishment Of Slavery In This District Of Columbia.
War
Slavery
Littles
Honest Statesmanship Is The Wise Employment Of Individual Meanness For The Public Good.
Wise
Employment
Politics
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.
Jobs
Ice
President
Nothing Valuable Can Be Lost By Taking Time.
Time
Losing
Lost
[if Not Re-elected In 1864] Then It Will Be My Duty To So Co-operate With The President Elect, As To Save The Union Between The Election And The Inauguration; As He Will Have Secured His Election On Such Ground That He Can Not Possibly Save It Afterwards.
President
Unions
Election
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.
Military
Hands
Atheism
Every Head Should Be Cultivated.
Education
Should
I Therefore Consider That In View Of The Constitution And The Laws, The Union Is Unbroken; And To The Extent Of My Ability I Shall Take Care, As The Constitution Itself Expressly Enjoins Upon Me, That The Laws Of The Union Be Faithfully Executed In All The States.
War
Views
Law
You Cannot Fail Unless You Quit.
Inspirational
Karma
Quitting
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.
Girl
Fool
Made
It Is Safe To Assert That No Government Proper Ever Had A Provision In Its Organic Law For Its Own Termination.
Gratitude
Government
Law
To Secure To Each Laborer The Whole Product Of His Labor, Or As Nearly As Possible, Is A Worthy Object Of Any Good Government.
Government
Worthy
Labor
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
If There Is Anything That A Man Can Do Well, I Say Let Him Do It. Give Him A Chance.
Life
Motivational
Positive
It Is A Pleasure To Be Able To Quote Lines To Fit Any Occasion.
Lines
Able
Fit
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.
Country
Ideas
Long
Human Action Can Be Modified To Some Extent, But Human Nature Can Not Be Changed
Nature
Words Of Wisdom
Action
It Is The Quality Of Revolutions Not To Go By Old Lines Or Old Laws; But To Break Up Both, And Make New Ones.
Law
Quality
Lines
If I Have One Vice And I Can Call It Nothing Else It Is Not Able To Say 'no'.
Vices
Able
Ifs
I Repeat The Declaration Made A Year Ago, That 'while I Remain In My Present Position I Shall Not Attempt To Retract Or Modify The Emancipation Proclamation, Nor Shall I Return To Slavery Any Person Who Is Free By The Terms Of That Proclamation, Or By Any Of The Acts Of Congress.' If The People Should, By Whatever Mode Or Means, Make It An Executive Duty To Re-enslave Such Persons, Another, And Not I, Must Be Their Instrument To Perform It.
Mean
Years
People
There Are Few Things Wholly Evil Or Wholly Good. Almost Everything, Especially Of Government Policy, Is An Inseparable Compound Of The Two, So That Our Best Judgment Of The Preponderance Between Them Is Continually Demanded.
Government
Two
Evil
...i Do Not Mean To Say That This General Government Is Charged With The Duty Of Redressing Or Preventing All The Wrongs In The World; But I Do Think That It Is Charged With The Duty Of Preventing And Redressing All Wrongs Which Are Wrongs To Itself.
Mean
Thinking
Government
As The Problems Are New, We Must Disenthrall Ourselves From The Past.
Past
Problem
The Leading Rule For A Man Of Every Calling Is Diligence; Never Put Off Until Tomorrow What You Can Do Today.
Christian
Men
Calling
Do The People Of The South Really Entertain Fears That A Republican Administration Would, Directly, Or Indirectly, Interfere With Their Slaves, Or With Them, About Their Slaves? If They Do, I Wish To Assure You, As Once A Friend, And Still, I Hope, Not An Enemy, That There Is No Cause For Such Fears.
People
Civil War
Enemy
A Day Spent Helping No One But Yourself Is A Day Wasted.
Helping
You Are Young, And I Am Older; You Are Hopeful, I Am Not- Enjoy Life, Ere It Grow Colder- Pluck The Roses Ere They Rot.
Rose
Hopeful
Enjoy Life
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.
Motivational
Trust No One
Men
Towering Genius Disdains A Beaten Path. It Seeks Regions Hitherto Unexplored.
Life
Genius
Path
These Men Ask For Just The Same Thing, Fairness, And Fairness Only. This, So Far As In My Power, They, And All Others, Shall Have.
Equality
Men
Fairness
To Read In The Bible, As The Word Of God Himself, That "in The Sweat Of Thy Face Shalt Thou Eat Bread, ["] And To Preach There-from That, "in The Sweat Of Other Mans Faces Shalt Thou Eat Bread," To My Mind Can Scarcely Be Reconciled With Honest Sincerity.
Religious
Sweat
Mind
When Judge Douglas Says That Whoever, Or Whatever Community, Wants Slaves, They Have A Right To Have Them, He Is Perfectly Logical If There Is Nothing Wrong In The Institution; But If You Admit That It Is Wrong, He Cannot Logically Say That Anybody Has A Right To Do Wrong.
Judging
Community
Slavery
I Am In Favor Of Animal Rights As Well As Human Rights. That Is The Way Of A Whole Human Being.
Meaningful
Nature
Compassion
I Hold, That In Contemplation Of Universal Law, And Of The Constitution, The Union Of These States Is Perpetual.
War
Law
Unions
As The Patriots Of Seventy-six Did To The Support Of The Declaration Of Independence, So To The Support Of The Constitution And Laws, Let Every American Pledge His Life, His Property, And His Sacred Honor;-let Every Man Remember That To Violate The Law, Is To Trample On The Blood Of His Father, And To Tear The Character Of His Own, And His Children's Liberty.
Children
Father
Character
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.
Education
Teacher
Teaching
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
When You Lack Interest In The Case The Job Will Very Likely Lack Skill And Diligence In The Performance.
Jobs
Skills
Diligence
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.
Inspirational
Friendship
Best Friend
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
The Union Is Much Older Than The Constitution. It Was Formed In Fact, By The Articles Of Association In 1774. It Was Matured And Continued By The Declaration Of Independence In 1776.
War
Independence
Unions
I Am Absent Altogether Too Much To Be A Suitable Instructor For A Law-student. When A Man Has Reached The Age That Mr. Widner Has,and Has Already Been Doing For Himself, My Judgment Is, That He Reads The Books For Himself Without An Instructor. That Is Precisely The Way I Came To The Law.
Education
Book
Men
Discipline Is Choosing Between What You Want Now, And What You Want Most.
Health
Discipline
Want
Prohibition... Goes Beyond The Bounds Of Reason In That It Attempts To Control A Man's Appetite By Legislation And Makes A Crime Out Of Things That Are Not Crimes... A Prohibition Law Strikes A Blow At The Very Principles Upon Which Our Government Was Founded.
Weed
Men
Blow
Ere Long The Most Valuable Of All Arts Will Be The Art Of Deriving A Comfortable Subsistence From The Smallest Area Of Soil. No Community Where Every Member Possesses The Art Can Ever Be The Victim Of Oppression In Any Of Its Forms.
Art
Long
Community
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.
Perseverance
Government
Duty
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.
Christian
Religious
Presidential
I Could Write Shorter Sermons But When I Get Started I'm Too Lazy To Stop
Writing
Lazy
Sermons
The Trouble With Hooker Is That He's Got His Headquarters Where His Hindquarters Aught To Be.
War
Civil War
Trouble
The Land-grant University System Is Being Built On Behalf Of The People, Who Have Invested In These Public Universities Their Hopes, Their Support, And Their Confidence.
Land
People
Support
I Believe The Bible Is The Best Gift God Ever Gave To Man. All The Good From The Savior Of The World Is Communicated To Us Through That Book." On A Personal Spiritual Note, Lincoln Confessed, "i Have Been Driven Many Times To My Knees With The Overwhelming Conviction, That I Had Nowhere Else To Go.
Spiritual
Book
Believe
I Will Either Be America's Greatest President Or Its Last.
Badass
America
President
I Have Never Had A Feeling Politically That Did Not Spring From The Sentiments Embodied In The Declaration Of Independence.
Spring
Feelings
Independence
I Appeal To All Loyal Citizens To Favor, Facilitate And Aid This Effort To Maintain The Honor, The Integrity, And The Existence Of Our National Union, And The Perpetuity Of Popular Government; And To Redress Wrongs Already Long Enough Endured.
Integrity
Government
Long
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.
Mother
Angel
Lessons
I Expect To Maintain This Contest Until Successful, Or Till I Die, Or Am Conquered, Or My Term Expires, Or Congress Or The Country Forsakes Me.
Country
Perseverance
Successful
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.
Friendship
Heart
Winning
History Is Not History Unless It Is The Truth.
History
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.
Ambition
Crowns
Might
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.
Inspirational
Good Life
Prayer
Most People Are As Happy As They Want To Be.
People
Want
Women Are The Only People I Am Afraid Of Who I Never Thought Would Hurt Me
Hurt
People
Hurt Me
We Better Know There Is A Fire Whence We See Much Smoke Rising Than We Could Know It By One Or Two Witnesses Swearing To It. The Witnesses May Commit Perjury, But The Smoke Cannot.
Two
Fire
Rising
It Is Better Then, To Save The Work While It Is Begun. You Have Done The Labor; Maintain It - Keep It. If Men Choose To Serve You, Go With Them; But As You Have Made Up Your Organization Upon Principle, Stand By It; For As Surely As God Reigns Over You, And Has Inspired Your Mind, And Given You A Sense Of Propriety, And Continues To Give You Hope, So Surely Will You Still Cling To These Ideas, And You Will At Last Come Back After Your Wanderings, Merely To Do Your Work Over Again.
Work
Men
Organization
Weakness Is What Keeps Driving Us To God, By The Overwhelming Conviction That There Just Isn't Anywhere Else To Go.
Weakness
Driving
Conviction
I Have No Purpose To Introduce Political And Social Equality Between The White And Black Races. There Is Physical Difference Between The Two Which, In My Judgment, Will Probably Forever Forbid Their Living Together Upon The Footing Of Perfect Equality, And Inasmuch As It Becomes A Necessity That There Must Be A Difference, I, As Well As Judge Douglas, Am In Favor Of The Race To Which I Belong Having The Superior Position.
Two
White
Differences
Love Is The Chain Whereby To Bind A Child To Its Parents.
Family
Children
Parenting
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.
Money
Selfish
Adversity
We Must Free The Slaves Or Be Ourselves Subdued.
Slavery
Slave
Offering Thanks In The Midst Of Tragedy Is An American Tradition, . Even During A Bloody Civil War.
War
Offering
Civilization
I Could Not Sleep When I Got On Such A Hunt For An Idea Until I Had Caught It; ...this Was A Kind Of Passion With Me, And It Has Stuck By Me; For I Am Never Easy Now, When I Am Handling A Thought, Till I Have Bounded It North, And Bounded It South, And Bounded It East, And Bounded It West.
Passion
Sleep
Ideas
Senator Douglas Holds, We Know, That A Man May Rightfully Be Wiser Today Than He Was Yesterday - That He May Rightfully Change When He Finds Himself Wrong. But Can We, For That Reason, Run Ahead, And Infer That He Will Make Any Particular Change, Of Which He, Himself, Has Given No Intimation?
Running
Men
Yesterday
We Must Ask Where We Are And Whither We Are Tending.
Planning
Asks
The Probability That We May Fail In The Struggle Ought Not To Deter Us From The Support Of A Cause We Believe To Be Just.
Inspirational
Motivational
Perseverance
If Any Should Be Slaves, It Should Be First Those Who Desire It For Themselves, And Secondly, Those Who Desire It For Others
Desire
Firsts
Slave
In The Way Our Fathers Originally Left The Slavery Question, The Institution Was In The Course Of Ultimate Extinction, And The Public Mind Rested In The Belief That It Was In The Course Of Ultimate Extinction . . . . All I Have Asked Or Desired Anywhere, Is That It Should Be Placed Back Again Upon The Basis That The Fathers Of Our Government Originally Placed It Upon.
Father
Government
Mind
Trusting In Him, Who Can Go With Me, And Remain With You And Be Every Where For Good, Let Us Confidently Hope That All Will Yet Be Well. To His Care Commending You, As I Hope In Your Prayers You Will Commend Me, I Bid You An Affectionate Farewell.
Religious
Prayer
Farewell
Everyone Likes A Good Quote - Don't Forget To Share.
God
Likes
Forget
I Am Glad To See That A System Of Labor Prevails Under Which Laborers Can Strike When They Want To.
Presidential
Want
Strikes
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.
War
Government
Hands
I Believe The Bible Is The Best Gift God Has Ever Given To Man.
Believe
Men
Best Christian
What Constitutes The Bulwark Of Our Own Liberty And Independence?
Independence
Liberty
Civic Minded
We Shall Yet Acknowledge His Wisdom And Our Own Error Therein.
God
Errors
God Knows Best
That Some Should Be Rich, Shows That Others May Become Rich, And, Hence, Is Just Encouragement To Industry And Enterprise.
Motivational
Encouragement
Business
You Cannot Build Character And Courage By Taking Away People's Initiative And Independence. You Cannot Help People Permanently By Doing For Them What They Could And Should Do For Themselves.
Character
People
Independence
We Hope All Danger May Be Overcome; But To Conclude That No Danger May Ever Arise Would Itself Be Extremely Dangerous.
Overcoming
May
Danger
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