The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.

Any society that takes away from those most capable and gives to the least will perish.

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

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

In this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed. Whoever molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes, or pronounces judicial decisions.

If any should be slaves, it should be first those who desire it for themselves, and secondly, those who desire it for others

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.