Duty is the sublimest work in the English language.

I would rather die a thousand deaths than surrender.

Mr. Blair, I look upon secession as anarchy. If I owned the four millions of slaves in the South, I would sacrifice them all to the Union; but how can I draw my sword upon Virginia, my native State?

Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or to keep one.

As a general principle you should not force young men to do their duty, but let them do it voluntarily and thereby develop their characters.

So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that slavery is abolished.

I can anticipate no greater calamity for the country than the dissolution of the Union. It would be an accumulation of all the evils we complain of, and I am willing to sacrifice everything but honor for its preservation.