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.

The surest way to reveal one's character is not through adversity but by giving them power.

And upon this act [Emancipation Proclamation]...I invoke...the gracious favor of Almighty God.

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true.

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...

War, at the best, is terrible, and this war of ours, in its magnitude and in its duration, is one of the most terrible.

I am slow to learn and slow to forget that which I have learned. My mind is like a piece of steel, very hard to scratch any thing on it and almost impossible after you get it there to rub it out.