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

-Abraham Lincoln

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When We Were The

Abraham Lincoln

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

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

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.

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

This Is A World Of Compensations; And He Who Would Be No Slave, Must Consent To Have No Slave.

In Law It Is Good Policy To Never Plead What You Need Not, Lest You Oblige Yourself To Prove What You Can Not.

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

Political Revolution

President Lincoln Was Once Criticized For His Attitude Toward His Enemies. "why Do You Try To Make Friends Of Them?" Asked An Associate. "you Should Try To Destroy Them." "am I Not Destroying My Enemies," Lincoln Gently Replied, "when I Make Them My Friends?"

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

Congress And The President

While I Am Deeply Sensible To The High Compliment Of A Re-election; And Duly Grateful, As I Trust, To Almighty God For Having Directed My Countrymen To A Right Conclusion, As I Think, For Their Own Good, It Adds Nothing To My Satisfaction That Any Other Man May Be Disappointed Or Pained By The Result.

I Have Always Found That Mercy Bears Richer Fruits Than Strict Justice.

We Shall Sooner Have The Fowl By Hatching The Egg Than By Smashing It.

Capital Is Only The Fruit Of Labor, And Could Never Have Existed If Labor Had Not First Existed. Labor Is The Superior Ofcapital, And Deserves Muchthe Higher Consideration.

Independent Women

Dignity Of Work

When Any Church Will Inscribe Over Its Altar, As Its Sole Qualification For Membership, The Savior's Condensed Statement Of The Substance Of Both Law And Gospel, 'thou Shalt Love The Lord Thy God With All Thy Heart, And With All Thy Soul And Thy Neighbor As Thyself' That Church Will I Join With All My Heart And All My Soul.

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

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

Never Stir Up Litigation, A Worse Man Can Scarcely Be Found Than One Who Does This, Who Can Be More Nearly A Fiend Than He Who Habitually Overhauls The Register Of Deeds In Search Of Defects In Titles, Whereon To Stir Up Strife, And Put Money In His Pocket?

I Always Remember The Prayers Of My Mother As They Always Forever.

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.

A Noble Spirit Embiggens The Smallest Man.

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

The Political Horizon Looks Dark And Lowering; But The People, Under Providence, Will Set All Right.

I Have Not Permitted Myself, Gentlemen, To Conclude That I Am The Best Man In The Country; But I Am Reminded, In This Connection, Of A Story Of An Old Dutch Farmer, Who Remarked To A Companion Once That "it Was Not Best To Swap Horses When Crossing Streams."

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.

I Believe The Bible Is The Best Gift God Has Ever Given To Man.

I Do Not Allow Myself To Suppose That Either The Convention Or The League, Have Concluded To Decide That I Am Either The Greatest Or The Best Man In America, But Rather They Have Concluded It Is Not Best To Swap Horses While Crossing The River, And Have Further Concluded That I Am Not So Poor A Horse That They Might Not Make A Botch Of It In Trying To Swap.

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

The Best Way To Get A Bad Law Repealed Is To Enforce It Strictly.

If You Want Your Name To Be Remembered After Your Death Either Do Something Worth Writing Or Write Some Thing Worth Reading

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.

There Is Nothing True Anywhere, The True Is Nowhere To Be Seen; If You Say You See The True, This Seeing Is Not The True One.

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

I Claim Not To Have Controlled Events, But Confess Plainly That Events Have Controlled Me.

Now What Is Judge Douglas Popular Sovereignty? It Is, As A Principle, No Other Than That, If One Man Chooses To Make A Slave Of Another Man, Neither That Other Man Nor Anybody Else Has A Right To Object.

No Man Has A Good Enough Memory To Be A Successful Liar.

The Ballot Is Stronger Than The Bullet.

Democracies Have

Labor Is The True Standard Of Value.

I Have Endured A Great Deal Of Ridicule Without Much Malice; And Have Received A Great Deal Of Kindness, Not Quite Free From Ridicule. I Am Used To It.

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

That Our Government Should Have Been Maintained In Its Original Form From Its Establishment Until Now, Is Not Much To Be Wondered At. It Had Many Props To Support It Through That Period, Which Now Are Decayed, And Crumbled Away. Through That Period, It Was Felt By All, To Be An Undecided Experiment; Now, It Is Understood To Be A Successful One.

We Have Been The Recipients Of The Choicest Bounties Of Heaven; We Have Been Preserved These Many Years In Peace And Prosperity; We Have Grown In Numbers, Wealth, And Power As No Other Nation Has Ever Grown.

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.

The Unpleasant Events You Are Passing From Will Not Have Been Profitless To You.

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

The Time Has Come When I Am For Everybody Fighting The Rebels. Let Indians Fight Them; Let The Negroes Fight Them; And If You Have Got Any Strong-legged Jackasses In Iwoa That Can Kick Rebels To Death, They Have My Hearty Consent.

[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.

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

In The Early Days Of The World, The Almighty Said To The First Of Our Race "in The Sweat Of Thy Face Shalt Thou Eat Bread"; And Since Then, If We Except The Light And The Air Of Heaven, No Good Thing Has Been, Or Can Be Enjoyed By Us, Without Having First Cost Labour.

Almost Every Thing, Especially Of Governmental Policy, Is An Inseparable Compound Of The Two [good And Evil].

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

Whether You Look For The Good Or Look For The Bad In A Person, You'll Find It." A. Lincoln

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.

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.

Friends, I Agree With You In Providence; But I Believe In The Providence Of The Most Men, The Largest Purse, And The Longest Cannon.

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

Cling To Liberty And Right; Battle Fro Them; Leed For Them; Die For Them, If Need Be; And Have Confidence In God.

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

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

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.

A Fellow Once Came To Me To Ask For An Appointment As A Minister Abroad. Finding He Could Not Get That, He Came Down To Some More Modest Position. Finally, He Asked To Be Made A Tide-waiter. When He Saw He Could Not Get That, He Asked Me For An Old Pair Of Trousers. It Is Sometimes Well To Be Humble.

If You Trust, You Will Be Disappointed Occasionally, But If You Mistrust, You Will Be Miserable All The Time.

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

Tangible Language, Which Often Tells More Falsehoods Than Truths.

I Am Approached With The Most Opposite Opinions And Advice, And That By Religious Men, Who Are Equally Certain That They Represent The Divine Will. ... I Hope It Will Not Be Irreverent For Me To Say That If It Is Probable That God Would Reveal His Will To Others, On A Point So Connected With My Duty, It Might Be Supposed He Would Reveal It Directly To Me... These Are Not, However, The Days Of Miracles ... I Must Study The Plain Physical Facts Of The Case, Ascertain What Is Possible, And Learn What Appears To Be Wise And Right.

Teach The Children So It Will Not Be Necessary To Teach The Adults.

It May Be Affirmed, Without Extravagance, That The Free Institutions We Enjoy, Have Developed The Powers, And Improved The Condition, Of Our Whole People, Beyond Any Example In The World.

Committee: A Group Which Succeeds In Getting Something Done Only When It Consists Of Three Members, One Of Whom Happens To Be Sick And Another Absent.

But I Must Add That The U.s. Government Must Not, As By This Order, Undertake To Run The Churches. When An Individual, In A Church Or Out Of It, Becomes Dangerous To The Public Interest, He Must Be Checked; But Let The Churches, As Such Take Care Of Themselves. It Will Not Do For The U.s. To Appoint Trustees, Supervisors, Or Other Agents For The Churches.

Congressmen Who Willfully Take Action During Wartime That Damages Morale And Undermine The Military Are Saboteurs And Should Be Arrested, Exiled, Or Hung

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.

I Do Not Boast That God Is On My Side, I Humbly Pray That I Am On God's Side.

It Is My Pleasure That My Children Are Free And Happy, And Unrestrained By Parental Tyranny. Love Is The Chain Whereby To Bind A Child To Its Parents.

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

Believing Everybody Is Dangerous, But Believing Nobody Is More Dangerous.

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?

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

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.

Hold On With A Bulldog Grip, And Chew And Choke As Much As Possible.

To Lead, You Must Touch Men's Hearts.

Every Blade Of Grass Is A Study; And To Produce Two, Where There Was But One, Is Both A Profit And A Pleasure.

Character Is The Tree, Reputation Is The Shadow.

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.

I Think That If Anything Can Be Proved By Natural Theology, It Is That Slavery Is Morally Wrong. God Gave Man A Mouth To Receive Bread, Hands To Feed It, And His Hand Has A Right To Carry Bread To His Mouth Without Controversy.

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

A Universal Feeling, Whether Well Or Ill Founded, Cannot Be Safely Disregarded.

Republicans Are For Both The Man And The Dollar, But In Case Of Conflict The Man Before The Dollar.

I Understand That It Is A Maxim Of Law, That A Poor Plea May Be A Good Plea To A Bad Declaration.

I Say Now, However, As I Have All The While Said, That On The Territorial Question - That Is, The Question Of Extending Slavery Under The National Auspices, - I Am Inflexible. I Am For No Compromise Which Assists Or Permits The Extension Of The Institution On Soil Owned By The Nation.

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.

A Jury Too Often Has At Least One Member More Ready To Hang The Panel Than To Hang The Traitor.

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.

Sir, My Concern Is Not Whether God Is On Our Side; My Greatest Concern Is To Be On God's Side, For God Is Always Right.

I Will, To The Best Of My Ability, Preserve, Protect And Defend The Constitution Of The United States. It Is Not The Constitution As I Would Like To Have It, But As It Is, That Is To Be Defended. The Constitution Will Not Be Preserved & Defended Until It Is Enforced & Obeyed In Every Part Of Every One Of The United States. It Must Be So Respected, Obeyed, Enforced And Defended, And Let The Grass Grow Where It May.

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

I Think The Authors Of That Notable Instrument [the Declaration Of Independence] Intended To Include All Men.

When I Go Hear A Man Speak, I Like To Hear Him Speak Like He's Fighting A Swarm Of Bees.

All My Life I Have Tried To Pluck A Thistle And Plant A Flower Wherever The Flower Would Grow In Thought And Mind.

And, Inasmuch [as] Most Good Things Are Produced By Labour, It Follows That All Such Things Of Right Belong To Those Whose Labour Has Produced Them. But It Has So Happened In All Ages Of The World, That Some Have Laboured, And Others Have, Without Labour, Enjoyed A Large Proportion Of The Fruits. This Is Wrong, And Should Not Continue. To [secure] To Each Labourer The Whole Product Of His Labour, Or As Nearly As Possible, Is A Most Worthy Object Of Any Good Government.

With Educated People, I Suppose, Punctuation Is A Matter Of Rule; With Me It Is A Matter Of Feeling. But I Must Say I Have A Great Respect For The Semicolin; It's A Useful Little Chap

It Is A Good Face. I Am Glad This War Is Over At Last.

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.

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

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

It Is Not Merely For To-day, But For All Time To Come That We Should Perpetuate For Our Children's Children This Great And Free Government, Which We Have Enjoyed All Our Lives.

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.

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

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

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

The Slave-breeders And Slave-traders, Are A Small, Odious And Detested Class, Among You; And Yet In Politics, They Dictate The Course Of All Of You, And Are As Completely Your Masters, As You Are The Master Of Your Own Negroes.

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

The People When Rightly And Fully Trusted Will Return The Trust.

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

We Can Complain Because Rose Bushes Have Thorns, Or Rejoice Because Thorn Bushes Have Roses.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Independent Women

Dignity Of Work

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.

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.

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.

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

Politics, As A Trade, Finds Most And Leaves Nearly All Dishonest.

Be Not Deceived. Revolutions Do Not Go Backward.

Rules For Radicals

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

Commitment Is What Transforms A Promise Into A Reality... Commitment Is The Stuff Character Is Made Of; The Power To Change The Face Of Things. It Is The Daily Triumph Of Integrity Over Skepticism.

Marriage Is Neither Heaven Nor Hell, It Is Simply Purgatory.

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

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

The Matter Of Fees Is Important, Far Beyond The Mere Question Of Bread And Butter Involved. Properly Attended To, Fuller Justice Is Done To Both Lawyer And Client.

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

I Hold, That In Contemplation Of Universal Law, And Of The Constitution, The Union Of These States Is Perpetual.

Allow The President To Invade A Neighboring Nation, Whenever He Shall Deem It Necessary To Repel An Invasion, And You Allow Him To Do So Whenever He May Choose To Say He Deems It Necessary For Such A Purpose - And You Allow Him To Make War At Pleasure.

Be Excellent And Party On Dudes.

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

I Am Rather Inclined To Silence, And Whether That Be Wise Or Not, It Is At Least More Unusual Nowadays To Find A Man Who Can Hold His Tongue Than To Find One Who Cannot.

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

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

We Have Been Preserved, These Many Years, In Peace And Prosperity. We Have Grown In Numbers, Wealth And Power, As No Other Nation Has Ever Grown. But We Have Forgotten God. We Have Forgotten The Gracious Hand Which Preserved Us In Peace, And Multiplied And Enriched And Strengthened Us; And We Have Vainly Imagined, In The Deceitfulness Of Our Hearts, That All These Blessings Were Produced By Some Superior Wisdom And Virtue Of Our Own. Intoxicated With Unbroken Success, We Have Become Too Self Sufficient To Feel The Necessity Of Redeeming And Preserving Grace, Too Proud To Pray To The God That Made Us!

I Have Seen Your Despatch Expressing Your Unwillingness To Break Your Hold Where You Are. Neither Am I Willing. Hold On With A Bull-dog Gripe, And Chew & Choke, As Much As Possible.

I Was Raised To Farm Work.

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.

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

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

We Must Settle This Question Now -- Whether In A Free Government The Minority Have The Right To Break It Up Whenever They Choose. If We Fail, It Will Go Far To Prove The Incapability Of The People To Govern Themselves.

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

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.

Elections Belong To The People. It's Their Decision. If They Decide To Turn Their Back On The Fire And Burn Their Behinds, Then They Will Just Have To Sit On Their Blisters.

Democracies Have

An Allusion Has Been Made To The Homestead Law. I Think It Worthy Of Consideration, And That The Wild Lands Of The Country Should Be Distributed So That Every Man Should Have The Means And Opportunity Of Benefitting His Condition.

That We We Here Highly Resolve That These Dead Shall Not Have Died In Vain - That This Nation, Under God, Shall Have A New Birth Of Freedom - And That Government Of The People, By The People, For The People, Shall Not Perish From The Earth.

We Here Highly Resolve That These Dead Shall Not Have Died In Vain.

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

Must A Government Be Too Strong For The Liberties Of Its People Or Too Weak To Maintain Its Own Existence?

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

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

In All That People Can Do For Themselves, Government Ought Not To Interfere.

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.

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

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

It Is Your Business To Rise Up And Preserve The Union And Liberty, For Yourselves, And Not For Me. I Desire They Shall Be Constitutionally Preserved.

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

Emancipation Proclamation

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

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

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

Gratefully Accepting The Proffered Honor, [to Inscribe A New Legal Work To Him] I Give The Leave, Begging Only That The Inscription May Be In Modest Terms, Not Representing Me As A Man Of Great Learning, Or A Very Extraordinary One In Any Respect.

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

It Is The Man Who Does Not Want To Express An Opinion Whose Opinion I Want.

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 You Have Got An Elephant By The Hind Legs And He Is Trying To Run Away, It's Best To Let Him Run.

Every Head Should Be Cultivated.

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.

We Must Ask Where We Are And Whither We Are Tending.

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

If Once You Forfeit The Confidence Of Your Fellow-citizens, You Can Never Regain Their Respect And Esteem.

I Would Rather Be A Little Nobody, Then To Be A Evil Somebody.

Work, Work, Work, Is The Main Thing.

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

[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.

Discipline Is Choosing Between What You Want Now, And What You Want Most.

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.

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.

This Country, With Its Institutions, Belongs To The People Who Inhabit It.

Constitution Of The United States

To Stand In Silence When They Should Be Protesting Makes Cowards Of Men.

No Man Who Is Resolved To Make The Most Of Himself Can Spare Time For Personal Contention, Still Less Can He Afford To Take The Consequences, Including The Vitiation Of His Temper And The Loss Of Self Control, Yield To Larger Things To Which You Show No More Than Equal Rights, And Yield To Lesser Ones Though Clearly Your Own, Better Give Your Path To A Dog, Than Be Bitten By Him In Contesting For The Right, Not Even Killing The Dog, Will Cure The Bite

The Philosophy Of The School Room In One Generation Will Be The Philosophy Of Government In The Next.

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

Now We Are Engaged In A Great Civil War, Testing Whether That Nation, Or Any Nation So Conceived And So Dedicated, Can Long Endure.

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.

Received As I Am By The Members Of A Legislature The Majority Of Whom Do Not Agree With Me In Political Sentiments, I Trust That I May Have Their Assistance In Piloting The Ship Of State Through This Voyage, Surrounded By Perils As It Is; For If It Should Suffer Wreck Now, There Will Be No Pilot Ever Needed For Another Voyage.

The Cause Of Civil Liberty Must Not Be Surrendered At The End Of One, Or Even One Hundred Defeats.

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

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.

A Tendancy To Melancholy...let It Be Observed, Is A Misfortune, Not A Fault.

He Who Molds The Public Sentiment... Makes Statutes And Decisions Possible Or Impossible To Make.

Reputation Is Like Fine China: Once Broken It's Very Hard To Repair.

I Hold The Value Of Life Is To Improve One's Condition. Whatever Is Calculated To Advance The Condition Of The Honest, Struggling Laboring Man, So Far As My Judgment Will Enable Me To Judge Of A Correct Thing, I Am For That Thing.

No Matter How Much Cats Fight, There Always Seem To Be Plenty Of Kittens.

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 Encourage Deceit, And Falsehood, Especially If You Have Got A Bad Memory, Is The Worst Enemy A Fellow Can Have. The Fact Is Truth Is Your Truest Friend, No Matter What The Circumstances Are.

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

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