Abraham Lincoln Quotes

We believe that the spreading out and perpetuity of the institution of slavery impairs the general welfare. We believe - nay, we know, that that is the only thing that has ever threatened the perpetuity of the Union itself.

I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing, that no man desires for himself.

The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond, and the surrender of the principal insurgent army, give hope of a righteous and speedy peace whose joyous expression can not be restrained. In the midst of this, however, He, from Whom all blessings flow, must not be forgotten. A call for a national thanksgiving is being prepared, and will be duly promulgated.

Few can be induced to labor exclusively for posterity - Posterity has done nothing for us

I happen temporarily to occupy this big White House. I am living witness that any one of your children may look to come here as my father's child has.

Every man is born an original, but sadly, most men die copies.

A child is a person who is going to carry on what you have started ... the fate of humanity is in his hands.

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

I agree with you, Mr. Chairman, that the working men are the basis of all governments, for the plain reason that they are the more numerous, and as you added that those were the sentiments of the gentlemen present, representing not only the working class, but citizens of other callings than those of the mechanic, I am happy to concur with you in these sentiments, not only of the native born citizens, but also of the Germans and foreigners from other countries.

We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.

What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.

In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party.

Writing, the art of communicating thoughts to the mind through the eye, is the great invention of the world.

One company can serve some of your needs all of the time, or all of your needs some of the time, but never both.

Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.

We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others, the same word many mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name - liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names - liberty and tyranny.

If we cannot give freedom to every creature, let us do nothing that will impose slavery upon any other creature.

A day spent helping no one but yourself is a day wasted.

That I am not a member of any Christian Church, is true; but I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures; and I have never spoken with intentional disrepect of religion in general, or of any denomination of Christians in particular.

I think that God means that we shall do more than we have yet done in furtherance of his plans and he will open the way for our doing it.

Nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world.

The enthusiastic uprising of the people in our cause, is our great reliance; and we can not safely give it any check, even thoughit overflows, and runs in channels not laid down in any chart.

I am struggling to maintain the government, not to overthrow it. I am struggling especially to prevent others from overthrowing it.

The world is agreed that labor is the source from which human wants are mainly supplied. There is no dispute upon this point.

I hope to stand firm enough to not go backward, and yet not go forward fast enough to wreck the country's cause.

The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty. Plainly, the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of liberty.

The ballot is stronger than the bullet.

Republicans are for both the man and the dollar, but in case of conflict the man before the dollar.

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

Such will be a great lesson of peace: teaching men that what they cannot take by an election, neither can they take it by war.

I have never studied the art of paying compliments to women; but I must say that if all that has been said by orators and poets since the creation of the world in praise of women were applied to the women of America, it would not do them justice for their conduct during this war.

Tell the truth and you won't have so much to remember

Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.

Peace will come soon to stay, and so come as to be worth keeping in all future time. It will then have proved that among free men there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet, and that they who take such appeal are sure their cases and pay the costs.

Let us renew our trust in god, and go forward without fear.

I am for . . . each individual doing just as he chooses in all matters which concern nobody else.

Character is like a tree, and reputation is like its shadow.

Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms.

But I must add that the U.S. government must not, as by this order, undertake to run the churches. When an individual, in a church or out of it, becomes dangerous to the public interest, he must be checked; but let the churches, as such take care of themselves. It will not do for the U.S. to appoint Trustees, Supervisors, or other agents for the churches.

Teach the children so it will not be necessary to teach the adults.

He [Stephen Douglas] is blowing out the moral lights around us, when he contends that whoever wants slaves has a right to hold them; that he is penetrating, so far as lies in his power, the human soul, and eradicating the light of reason and the love of liberty, when he is in every possible way preparing the public mind, by his vast influence, for making the institution of slavery perpetual and national.

I could write shorter sermons but when I get started I'm too lazy to stop

Legislation and adjudication must follow, and conform to, the progress of society.

I trust that as He shall further open the way, I will be ready to walk therein, relying on His help and trusting in His goodness and wisdom.

I belive that people should fight for what they believe and only what they believe.

And then, the negro being doomed, and damned, and forgotten, to everlasting bondage, is the white man quite certain that the tyrant demon will not turn upon him too?

Capital has its proper place and is entitled to every protection. The wages of men should be recognized in the structure of and in the social order as more important than the wages of money [interest].

I have never united myself to any church because I found difficulty in giving my assent without mental reservation to the long, complicated statements of Christian doctrine which characterize the articles of belief and the usual confession of faith.