There's no honorable way to kill, no gentle way to destroy. There is nothing good in war. Except its ending.

Don't judge a man by the size of his ego or his heart, but on the epicness of his beard and the beautiful woman on his arm

Persuasion, kind, unassuming persuasion, should be adopted to influence the conduct of men. The opposite course would be a reversal of human nature, which is God's decree and can never be reversed.

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.

No man has a right to judge Andrew Johnson in any respect who has not suffered as much and done as much as he for the Nation's sake.

Believing everybody is dangerous, but believing nobody is more dangerous.

To secure to each laborer the whole product of his labor, or as nearly as possible, is a worthy object of any good government.