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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.

-Abraham Lincoln

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The Presidency, Even To

Abraham Lincoln

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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.

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

Continue To Execute All The Express Provisions Of Our National Constitution, And The Union Will Endure Forever-it Being Impossible To Destroy It, Except By Some Action Not Provided For In The Instrument Itself.

Next To Creating A Life The Finest Thing A Man Can Do Is Save One.

It Often Requires More Courage To Dare To Do Right Than To Fear To Do Wrong.

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.

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

Human Nature Will Not Change. In Any Future Great National Trial, Compared With The Men Of This, We Shall Have As Weak And As Strong, As Silly And As Wise, As Bad And As Good. Let Us Therefore Study The Incidents In This As Philosophy To Learn Wisdom From And None Of Them As Wrongs To Be Avenged.

I Would Save The Union. I Would Save It The Shortest Way Under The Constitution. The Sooner The National Authority Can Be Restored; The Nearer The Union Will Be 'the Union As It Was'.

There Is Something So Ludicrous In Promises Of Good Or Threats Of Evil A Great Way Off As To Render The Whole Subject With Which They Are Connected Easily Turned Into Ridicule.

Let Reverence For The Laws, Be Breathed By Every American Mother, To The Lisping Babe, That Prattles On Her Lap - Let It Be Taught In Schools, In Seminaries, And In Colleges; Let It Be Written In Primmers, Spelling Books, And In Almanacs; Let It Be Preached From The Pulpit, Proclaimed In Legislative Halls, And Enforced In Courts Of Justice.

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 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.

I Have Neither Time Nor Disposition To Enter Into Discussion With The Friend, And End This Occasion By Suggesting For Her Consideration The Question Whether, If It Be True That The Lord Has Appointed Me To Do The Work She Has Indicated, It Is Not Probable That He Would Have Communicated Knowledge Of The Fact To Me As Well As To Her.

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

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

Never Let Your Correspondence Fall Behind.

With Malice Towards None; With Charity For All.

Too Big To Cry Too Young To Laugh.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Capital Has Its Rights, Which Are As Worthy Of Protection As Any Other Right.

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!

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

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

Human-nature Will Not Change.

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

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.

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

I See In The Near Future A Crisis Approaching That Unnerves Me And Causes Me To Tremble For The Safety Of My Country... Corporations Have Been Enthroned And An Era Of Corruption In High Places Will Follow, And The Money Power Of The Country Will Endeavor To Prolong Its Reign By Working Upon The Prejudices Of The People Until All Wealth Is Aggregated In A Few Hands And The Republic Is Destroyed.

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 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.

He Who Represents Himself Has A Fool For A Client

The Fiery Trials Through Which We Pass Will Light Us Down In Honor Or Dishonor To The Latest Generation.

Congress And The President

We Seek Not To Overthrow The Constitution, But To Overthrow Those Who Would Prevert It.

[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.

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.

I Have Always Wanted To Deal With Everyone I Meet Candidly And Honestly. If I Have Made Any Assertion Not Warranted By Facts, And It Is Pointed Out To Me, I Will Withdraw It Cheerfully.

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

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

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.

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

Don't Be Fooled. I Kept All My Workout Clothes In That Top Hat.

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?

Democracy Is "government Of, By And For The People".

We Must Work Earnestly In The Best Light He Gives Us.

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

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.

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?

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

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.

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

I Always [or "often"] Walk Slowly, But I Never Walk Backwards.

Surely God Would Not Have Created Such A Being As Man, With An Ability To Grasp The Infinite, To Exist Only For A Day! No, No, Man Was Made For Immortality.

My Old Father Used To Have A Saying: If You Make A Bad Bargain, Hug It All The Tighter.

The Man Does Not Live Who Is More Devoted To Peace Than I Am. None Who Would Do More To Preserve It.

I Will Prepare And Some Day My Chance Will Come.

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.

The Greatest Fine Art Of The Future Will Be The Making Of A Comfortable Living From A Small Piece Of Land.

The Union, And The Constitution, Are The Picture Of Silver, Subsequently Framed Around It. The Picture Was Not Made To Conceal Or Destroy The Apple, But To Adorn And Preserve It. The Picture Was Made For The Apple-not The Apple For The Picture.

The Trouble With Too Many People Is They Believe The Realm Of Truth Always Lies Within Their Vision.

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.

Let Reverence For The Laws . . . Become The Political Religion Of The Nation.

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

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

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

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

Surely He Intends Some Great Good To Follow This Mighty Convulsion Which No Mortal Could Make, And No Mortal Could Stay.

I Happen Temporarily To Occupy This Big White House. I Am Living Witness That Any One Of Your Children May Look To Come Here As My Father's Child Has.

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.

It Is Difficult To Make A Man Miserable While He Feels Worthy Of Himself And Claims Kindred To The Great God Who Made Him.

May Our Children And Our Children's Children To A Thousand Generations, Continue To Enjoy The Benefits Conferred Upon Us By A United Country, And Have Cause Yet To Rejoice Under Those Glorious Institutions Bequeathed Us By Washington And His Compeers.

Familiarize Yourself With The Chains Of Bondage And You Prepare Your Own Limbs To Wear Them.

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

Labor Is The Superior Of Capital, And Deserves Much The Higher Consideration

Independent Women

Dignity Of Work

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

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

Determine That The Thing Can And Shall Be Done And Then... Find The Way.

I Take It That It Is Best For All To Leave Each Man Free To Acquire Property As Fast As He Can. Some Will Get Wealthy. I Dont Believe In A Law To Prevent A Man From Getting Rich; It Would Do More Harm Than Good.

Were It Not For My Little Jokes, I Could Not Bear The Burdens Of This Office.

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

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.

In The First Place, I Insist That Our Fathers Did Not Make This Nation Half Slave And Half Free, Or Part Slave And Part Free. I Insist That They Found The Institution Of Slavery Existing Here. They Did Not Make It So, But They Left It So Because They Knew Of No Way To Get Rid Of It At That Time.

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.

Writing Is The Great Invention Of The World.

Great Inventions

All Creation Is A Mine, And Every Man A Miner. The Whole Earth, And All Within It, Upon It, And Round About It, Including Himself ... Are The Infinitely Various "leads" From Which, Man, From The First, Was To Dig Out His Destiny.

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.

My Great Concern Is Not Whether You Have Failed, But Whether You Are Content With Your Failure.

Everyone Likes A Good Quote - Don't Forget To Share.

The Things I Want To Know Are In Books; My Best Friend Is The Man Who'll Get Me A Book I Ain't Read.

For It Has Been Said, All That A Man Hath Will He Give For His Life; And While All Contribute Of Their Substance The Soldier Puts His Life At Stake, And Often Yields It Up In His Country's Cause. The Highest Merit, Then Is Due To The Soldier.

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

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

Emancipation Proclamation

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

Beavers Build Houses; But They Build Them In Nowise Differently, Or Better Now, Than They Did, Five Thousand Years Ago. Ants, And Honey-bees, Provide Food For Winter; But Just In The Same Way They Did, When Solomon Referred The Sluggard To Them As Patterns Of Prudence. Man Is Not The Only Animal Who Labors; But He Is The Only One Who Improves His Workmanship.

Always Remember: Life Is For Enjoying.

Inspirational Life

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

If You Have Never Failed You Have Never Lived.

Short Inspirational Life

I Am Not Bound To Win, But I Am Bound To Be True. I Am Not Bound To Succeed, But I Am Bound To Live Up To What Light I Have.

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.

But In A Larger Sense, We Cannot Dedicate, We Cannot Consecrate, We Cannot Hallow This Ground. The Brave Men, Living And Dead, Who Struggled Here, Have Consecrated It, Far Above Our Poor Power To Add Or To Detract. The World Will Little Note, Nor Long Remember What We Say Here, But It Can Never Forget What They Did Here.

Let Us Do Nothing Through Passion And Ill Temper.

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.

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.

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.

I Had Been Told I Was On The Road To Hell, But I Had No Idea It Was Just A Mile Down The Road With A Dome On It.

The Good Old Maxims Of The Bible Are Applicable, And Truly Applicable To Human Affairs, And In This As In Other Things, We May Say Here That He Who Is Not For Us Is Against Us; He Would Gathereth Not With Us Scattereth.

Nothing Is More Damaging To You Than To Do Something That You Believe Is Wrong.

No Man Is Poor Who Has A Godly Mother.

Most Governments Have Been Based, Practically, On The Denial Of Equal Rights Of Menours Began, By Affirming Those Rights. They Said, Some Men Are Too Ignorant, And Vicious, To Share In Government. Possibly So, Said We; And, By Your System, You Would Always Keep Them Ignorant, And Vicious. We Proposed To Give All A Chance; And We Expected The Weak To Grow Stronger, The Ignorant Wiser; And All Better, And Happier Together.

As To The Whiskers, Having Never Worn Any, Do You Not Think People Would Call It A Piece Of Silly Affectation If I Were To Begin It Now?

I Intend No Modification Of My Oft-expressed Wish That All Men Everywhere Could Be Free.

Well, I Suppose You Know That Men Will Stand A Good Deal When They Are Flattered.

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.

Don't Pray That God's On Our Side, Pray That We're On His Side.

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.

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

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.

Peace Does Not Appear So Distant As It Did. I Hope It Will Come Soon, And Come To Stay; And So Come As To Be Worth The Keeping In All Future Time.

My Experience Has Taught Me That A Man Who Has No Vices Has Damned Few Virtues.

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.

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

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.

Our Common Country Is In Great Peril, Demanding The Loftiest Views, And Boldest Action To Bring It Speedy Relief.

Gold Is Good In Its Place, But Living, Brave, Patriotic Men Are Better Than Gold.

When You Make It To The Top, Turn And Reach Down For The Person Behind You.

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.

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

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.

If I Am Killed, I Can Die By Once; But To Live In Constant Dread Of It, Is To Die Over And Over Again.

We Must Not Promise What We Ought Not, Lest We Be Called On To Perform What We Cannot.

Keeping Promises

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.

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

I Never Did Ask More, Nor Ever Was Willing To Accept Less, Than For All The States, And The People Thereof, To Take And Hold Their Places, And Their Rights, In The Union, Under The Constitution Of The United States. For This Alone Have I Felt Authorized To Struggle; And I Seek Neither More Nor Less Now.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

There Are No Accidents In My Philosophy. Every Effect Must Have Its Cause. The Past Is The Cause Of The Present, And The Present Will Be The Cause Of The Future. All These Are Links In The Endless Chain Stretching From The Finite To The Infinite.

I Can Make More Generals, But Horses Cost Money.

A Good, Real, Unrestrained, Hearty Laugh Is A Sort Of Glorified Internal Massage, Performed Rapidly And Automatically. It Manipulates And Revitalizes Corners And Unexplored Crannies Of The System That Are Unresponsive To Most Other Exercise Methods. With The Fearful Strain That Is On Me Night And Day, If I Did Not Laugh I Should Die.

My Politics Are Short And Sweet, Like The Old Woman's Dance.

Short And Sweet

I Care Not Much For A Man's Religion Whose Dog And Cat Are Not The Better For It.

I Sincerely Wish War Was A Pleasanter And Easier Business Than It Is, But It Does Not Admit Of Holidays.

The Plainest Print Cannot Be Read Through A Gold Eagle.

There' S Nothing Good In War. Except Its Ending.

If There Is A Worse Place Than Hell, I Am In It.

I Claim Not To Have Controlled Events, But Confess Plainly That Events Have Controlled Me. 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. Whither It Is Tending Seems Plain. If God Now Wills The Removal Of A Great Wrong, And Wills Also That We Of The North As Well As You Of The South, Shall Pay Fairly For Our Complicity In That Wrong, Impartial History Will Find Therein New Cause To Attest And Revere The Justice And Goodness Of God.

I Was Elected A Captain Of Volunteers--a Success Which Gave Me More Pleasure Than Any I Have Had Since.

I Laugh Because I Must Not Cry, That Is All, That Is All.

We Meet This Evening, Not In Sorrow, But In Gladness Of Heart.

Here In My Heart, My Happiness, My House. Here Inside The Lighted Window Is My Love, My Hope, My Life. Peace Is My Companion On The Pathway Winding To The Threshold. Inside This Portal Dwells New Strength In The Security, Serenity, And Radiance Of Those I Love Above Life Itself. Here Two Will Build New Dreams--dreams That Tomorrow Will Come True. The World Over, These Are The Thoughts At Eventide When Footsteps Turn Ever Homeward. In The Haven Of The Hearthside Is Rest And Peace And Comfort.

Relying, As I Do, Upon The Almighty Power, And Encouraged As I Am By These Resolutions Which You Have Just Read, With The Support Which I Receive From Christian Men, I Shall Not Hesitate To Use All The Means At My Control To Secure The Termination Of This Rebellion, And Will Hope For Success.

I Can't Spare This Man, He Fights!

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

Let Not Him Who Is Houseless Pull Down The House Of Another, But Let Him Work Diligently And Build One For Himself, Thus By Example Assuring That His Own Shall Be Safe From Violence When Built.

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

What Constitutes The Bulwark Of Our Own Liberty And Independence? It Is Not Our Frowning Battlements, Our Bristling Sea Coasts, Our Army And Our Navy... Our Reliance Is In The Love Of Liberty Which God Has Planted In Us. Our Defense Is In The Spirit Which Prizes Liberty As The Heritage Of All Men, In All Lands Everywhere. Destroy This Spirit And You Have Planted The Seeds Of Despotism At Your Own Doors... You Have Lost The Genius Of Your Own Independence And Become The Fit Subjects Of The First Cunning Tyrant Who Rises Among You.

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

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

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.

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

You Dislike The Emancipation Proclamation; And, Perhaps, Would Have It Retracted. You Say It Is Unconstitutional - I Think Differently.

Emancipation Proclamation

America Will Never Be Destroyed From The Outside. If We Falter And Lose Our Freedoms, It Will Be Because We Destroyed Ourselves.

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.

I Destroy My Enemy If I Make Him My Friend.

Never Stir Up Litigation. A Worse Man Can Scarcely Be Found Than One Who Does This.

You Cannot Help The Poor By Destroying The Rich. You Cannot Lift The Wage Earner By Pulling Down The Wage Payer.

Libertarian Party

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

The Judgments Of The Lord Are True And Righteous Altogether.

Divine Revelation

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

Progress Of Society

Intelligence, Patriotism, Christianity, And A Firm Reliance On Him, Who Has Never Yet Forsaken This Favored Land, Are Still Competent To Adjust, In The Best Way, All Our Present Difficulty.

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.

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.

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

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

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

I Am Not Concerned That You Have Fallen -- I Am Concerned That You Arise.

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 Certainly Know That If The War Fails, The Administration Fails, And That I Will Be Blamed For It, Whether I Deserve It Or Not. And I Ought To Be Blamed, If I Could Do Better. You Think I Could Do Better; Therefore You Blame Me Already. I Think I Could Not Do Better; Therefore I Blame You For Blaming Me.

We Must Remember That The People Of All The States Are Entitled To All The Privileges And Immunities Of The Citizen Of The Several States. We Should Bear This In Mind, And Act In Such A Way As To Say Nothing Insulting Or Irritating. I Would Inculcate This Idea, So That We May Not, Like Pharisees, Set Ourselves Up To Be Better Than Other People.

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

A New Book Is Like A Friend That I Have Yet To Meet

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.

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

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

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

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.

I Am Struggling To Maintain The Government, Not To Overthrow It. I Am Struggling Especially To Prevent Others From Overthrowing It.

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

The Privilege Of Creating And Issuing Money Is Not Only The Supreme Prerogative Of Government, But It Is The Government's Greatest Creative Opportunity.

This Country, With Its Institutions, Belongs To The People Who Inhabit It. Whenever They Shall Grow Weary Of The Existing Government, They Can Exercise Their Constitutional Right Of Amending It, Or Exercise Their Revolutionary Right To Overthrow It.

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

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

Most Folks Are As Happy As They Make Up Their Minds To Be.

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