Abraham Lincoln Quotes

Towering genius distains a beaten path.

Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality.

Care for him who shall have borne the battle

Money powers prey upon the nation in times of peace & conspire against it in times of adversity.

Extemporaneous speaking should be practised and cultivated. It is the lawyer's avenue to the public.

You can not fail in any laudable object, unless you allow your mind to be improperly directed.

Laughter can be used to sooth the mind and get rid of those awful thoughts.

I never trusted a man who never smoked or drank.

The power of hope upon human exertion, and happiness, is wonderful.

When the white man governs himself, that is self-government; but when he governs himself and also governs another man, that is more than self-government-that is despotism.

It is not 'Is God on my side', but 'Am I on God's side'.

Remembering that Peter denied his Lord with an oath, after most solemnly protesting that he never would, I will not swear I will make no committals; but I do think I will not.

Surely God would not have created such a being as man, with an ability to grasp the infinite, to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality.

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.

Seriously, I do not think I am fit for the Presidency.

A man has not the time to spend half his life in quarrels. If any man ceases to attack me, I never remember the past against him.

As we keep or break the Sabbath Day we nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope by which man rises.

These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert to fleece the people, and now that they have got into a quarrel with themselves, we are called upon to appropriate the people's money to settle the quarrel.

But, slavery is good for some people! ! ! As a good thing, slavery is strikingly peculiar, in this, that it is the only good thing which no man ever seeks the good of, for himself.

When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion.

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.

I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.

I was born and have ever remaind [sic] in the most humble walks of life.

By all means, don't say, "if I can," say "I will."

A nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.

Military necessity does not admit of cruelty - that is, the infliction of suffering for the sake of suffering or for revenge, . . . nor of torture to extort confessions.

I'm a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn't have the heart to let him down.

It doesn't mater if you're a slow walker, so long as you don't walk backwards.

The worst thing you can do for anyone you care about is anything that they can do on their own.

I couldn't be two faced. If I had two faces, I wouldn't wear this one.

If you intend to go to work there is no better place than right where you are; if you do not intend to go to work, you can not get along anywhere.

I soon began to dream. ... I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping. ... I left my bed and wandered downstairs. ... There I met with a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of people, gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered, others weeping pitifully. 'Who is dead in the White House?' I demanded of one of the soldiers, 'The President,' was his answer; 'he was killed by an assassin.''

If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business.

Friendship is the start for what you call love.

You are ambitious, which, within reasonable bounds, does good rather than harm.

It is a pleasure to be able to quote lines to fit any occasion.

I have stepped out upon this platform that I may see you and that you may see me, and in the arrangement I have the best of the bargain.

I sincerely wish war was a pleasanter and easier business than it is, but it does not admit of holidays.

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.

Upon this subject, the habits of our whole species fall into three great classes--useful labour, useless labour and idleness. Of these the first only is meritorious; and to it all the products of labour rightfully belong; but the two latter, while they exist, are heavy pensioners upon the first, robbing it of a large portion of it's just rights. The only remedy for this is to, as far as possible, drive useless labour and idleness out of existence.

And I do further recommend to my fellow-citizens aforesaid, that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves in the dust, and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the great Disposer of events for a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the land which it has pleased him to assign as a dwelling-place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations.

Allow me to assure you, that suspicion and jealousy never did help any man in any situation.

The power confided in me will be used to hold, occupy and possess the property and places belonging to the government, and to collect the duties and imposts.

We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving Grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

Honest statesmanship is the wise employment of individual meanness for the public good.

As a nation we began by declaring that all me are created equal. We now practically read it, all men are created equal except Negroes.

The Union, and the Constitution, are the picture of silver, subsequently framed around it. The picture was not made to conceal or destroy the apple, but to adorn and preserve it. The picture was made for the apple-not the apple for the picture.

I have come to the conclusion never again to think of marrying, and for this reason, I can never be satisfied with anyone who would be blockhead enough to have me.