I feel that we are on the eve of a new era, when there is to be great harmony between the Federal and Confederate. I cannot stay to be a living witness to the correctness of this prophecy; but I feel it within me that it is to be so.

There is nothing more I should do to it now, and therefore I am not likely to be more ready to go than at this moment.

I will raid the arsenal and start a war to end slavery.

No theory of my own will ever stand in the way of my executing, in good faith, any order I may receive from those in authority over me.

If you see the President, tell him from me that whatever happens there will be no turning back.

Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions.

Wars produce many stories of fiction, some of which are told until they are believed to be true.