Abraham Lincoln Quotes
I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on Earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.
It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels he is worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.
Having thus chosen our course, without guile and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear and with manly hearts.
Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it.
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; it shall not deter me.
Whatever woman may cast her lot with mine, should any ever do so, it is my intention to do all in my power to make her happy and contented; and there is nothing I can imagine that would make me more unhappy than to fail in the effort.
I have now come to the conclusion never again to think of marrying, and for this reason: I can never be satisfied with anyone who would be blockhead enough to have me.
I believe it is an established maxim in morals that he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false is guilty of falsehood, and the accidental truth of the assertion does not justify or excuse him.
Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.
Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.
He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas of any man I ever met.
It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.
Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.
Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under a just God, cannot long retain it.
I want it said of me by those who knew me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.
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.
I hold that if the Almighty had ever made a set of men that should do all the eating and none of the work, He would have made them with mouths only and no hands; and if He had ever made another class that He intended should do all the work and no eating, He would have made them with hands and no mouths.
Perhaps I am not a good judge of these things, but in my opinion the religion that makes men rebel and fight against a just government in defense of an unjust institution that makes slaves of men whom God made free is not the genuine article. The religion that reconciles men to the idea of eating their bread in the sweat of other men's faces is not the kind to get to heaven on.
Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus, by example, assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.
If by the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right, it might, in a moral point of view, justify revolution - certainly would if such a right were a vital one.
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.
The strongest bond of human sympathy outside the family relation should be one uniting all working people of all nations and tongues and kindreds. Nor should this lead us to a war on property, or the owners of property. Property is the fruit of labor; property is desirable; is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.
The worst thing you can do for those you love is the things they could and should do themselves.
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