Our adversaries [ the Confederate States of America ] have adopted some declarations of independence in which, unlike the good old one penned by Jefferson, they omit the words "all men are created equal." Why? They have adopted a temporary national constitution, in the preamble of which, unlike our good old one, signed by Washington, they omit "We, the People," and substitute "We, the deputies of the sovereign and independent States." Why? Why this deliberate pressing out of view, the rights of men, and the authority of the people?
Abraham LincolnIt is easiest to "be all things to all men," but it is not honest. Self-respect must be sacrificed every hour in the day.
Abraham LincolnNow we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
Abraham LincolnPoliticians are a set of men who have interests aside from the interests of the people and who, to say the most of them, are, taken as a mass, at least one long step removed from honest men
Abraham LincolnAs we keep or break the Sabbath Day we nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope by which man rises.
Abraham Lincoln