THE WORDS OF LINCOLN
"We can scarcely dispense with the aid of West-Virginia in this struggle; much less can we afford to have her against us, in congress and in the field. Her brave and good men regard her admission into the Union as a matter of life and death."
--From the December 31, 1862 Opinion on the Admission of West Virginia into the Union
"You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial difference between us."
--From the December 22, 1860 Letter to Alexander Stephens
"The work of the Plymouth emigrants [Pilgrims] was the glory of their age. While we reverence their memory, let us not forget how vastly greater is our opportunity."
--From the December 19, 1864 Letter to Joseph H. Choate
"I think we have fairly entered upon a durable struggle as to whether this nation is to ultimately become all slave or all free, and though I fall early in the contest, it is nothing if I shall have contributed, in the least degree, to the final rightful result."
--From the December 8, 1858 Letter to H.D. Sharpe
"You may examine the debates under the Confederation, in the Convention that framed the Constitution and in the first session of Congress and you will not find a single man saying that slavery is a good thing. They all believed it was an evil."
--From the December 1, 1859 Speech at Elwood, Kansas
"I suppose my opposition to the principle of slavery is as strong as that of any member of the Republican party..."
--From the November 27, 1854 Letter to Ichabod Codding
"Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers of a common country, and should dwell together in the bonds of fraternal feeling."
--From the November 20, 1860 Remarks at Springfield, Illinois
"While I am deeply sensible to the high compliment of a re-election; and duly grateful, as I trust, to Almighty God for having directed my countrymen to a right conclusion, as I think, for their own good, it adds nothing to my satisfaction that any other man may be disappointed or pained by the result."
--From the November 10, 1864 Response to a Serenade
"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing."
--From the November 5, 1855 Letter to Isham Reavis
"I have borne a laborious, and, in some respects to myself, a painful part in the contest. Through all, I have neither assailed, nor wrestled with any part of the constitution."
-- From the October 30, 1858 Speech at Springfield
"Nevertheless, amid the greatest difficulties of my Administration, when I could not see any other resort, I would place my whole reliance on God, knowing that all would go well, and that He would decide for the right."
--From the October 24, 1863 Remarks to the Baltimore Presbyterian Synod
"The lady -- bearer of this -- says she has two sons who want to work. Set them at it, if possible. Wanting to work is so rare a merit, that it should be encouraged."
--From the October 17, 1861 Letter to George Ramsay
"Now I confess myself as belonging to that class in the country who contemplate slavery as a moral, social and political evil..."
--From the October 7, 1858 Debate at Galesburg, Illinois
"We are in civil war. In such cases there always is a main question; but in this case that question is a perplexing compound -- Union and Slavery. It thus becomes a question not of two sides merely, but of at least four sides, even among those who are for the Union, saying nothing of those who are against it."
--From the October 5, 1863 Letter to Charles Drake et al
"I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game. Kentucky gone, we can not hold Missouri, nor, as I think, Maryland. These all against us, and the job on our hands is too large for us."
--From the September 22, 1861 Letter to Orville Browning
"We know, Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers amongst us. How little they know, whereof they speak! There is no permanent class of hired laborers amongst us ... Free labor has the inspiration of hope; pure slavery has no hope."
--From the ca. September 17, 1859 Fragment on Free Labor
"Much is being said about peace; and no man desires peace more ardently than I. Still I am yet unprepared to give up the Union for a peace which, so achieved, could not be of much duration."
--From the September 12, 1864 Letter to Isaac Schermerhorn
"The point you press -- the importance of thorough organization -- is felt, and appreciated by our friends everywhere. And yet it involves so much more of the dry, and irksome labor, that most of them shrink from it..."
--From the September 1, 1860 Letter to Henry Wilson
"I freely acknowledge myself the servant of the people, according to the bond of service -- the United States constitution; and that, as such, I am responsible to them."
--From the August 26, 1863 Letter to James Conkling
"The Autocrat of all the Russias will resign his crown, and proclaim his subjects free republicans sooner than will our American masters voluntarily give up their slaves."
--From the August 15, 1855 Letter to George Robertson
"We never should, and I am sure, never shall be niggard of gratitude and benefaction to the soldiers who have endured toil, privations and wounds, that the nation may live."
--From the August 10, 1863 Letter to Mrs. Hunter et al
"The emancipation proclamation applies to Arkansas. I think it is valid in law, and will be so held by the courts. I think I shall not retract or repudiate it. Those who shall have tasted actual freedom I believe can never be slaves, or quasi slaves again."
--From the July 31, 1863 Letter to Stephen A. Hurlburt
"I am a patient man -- always willing to forgive on the Christian terms of repentance; and also to give ample time for repentance. Still I must save this government if possible."
--From the July 17, 1862 Letter to Reverdy Johnson
"I planted myself upon the truth, and the truth only, so far as I knew it, or could be brought to know it."
--From the July 17, 1858 Speech at Springfield, Illinois
"I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were right, and I was wrong."
--From the July 13, 1863 Letter to General Grant
"This is essentially a People's contest. On the side of the Union, it is a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of men -- to lift artificial weights from all shoulders -- to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all -- to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life."
--From the July 4, 1861 Message to Congress
"Adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did. On the contrary, if you falter, and give up, you will lose the power of keeping any resolution, and will regret it all your life."
--From the June 28, 1862 Letter to Quintin Campbell
"I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided."
--From the June 16, 1858 "House Divided" Speech
"In this time of national peril I would have preferred to meet you upon a level one step higher than any party platform; because I am sure that from such more elevated position, we could do better battle for the country we all love..."
--From the ca. June 12, 1863 Letter to Erastus Corning and Others
"The proportions of this rebellion were not for a long time understood. I saw that it involved the greatest difficulties, and would call forth all the powers of the whole country."
--From the June 2, 1863 Reply to Members of the Presbyterian General Assembly
"To read in the Bible, as the word of God himself, that 'In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,' and to preach therefrom that, 'In the sweat of other mans faces shalt thou eat bread,' to my mind can scarcely be reconciled with honest sincerity."
--From the May 30, 1864 Letter to George Ide and Others
"I frequently make mistakes myself, in the many things I am compelled to do hastily."
--From the May 20, 1863 Letter to General Rosecrans
"Understanding the spirit of our institutions to aim at the elevation of men, I am opposed to whatever tends to degrade them."
--From the May 17, 1859 Letter to Theodore Canisius
"Enough is known of Army operations within the last five days to claim our especial gratitude to God; while what remains undone demands our most sincere prayers to, and reliance upon, Him, without whom, all human effort is vain."
--From the May 10, 1864 Telegram Press Release
"You and I both anticipated that the cause of the country would be advanced by making the attempt to provision Fort-Sumpter, even if it should fail; and it is no small consolation now to feel that our anticipation is justified by the result."
--From the May 1, 1861 Letter to Gustavus V. Fox
"I have desired as sincerely as any man -- I sometimes think more than any other man -- that our present difficulties might be settled without the shedding of blood."
--From the April 26, 1861 Address to the Frontier Guard
"Gen. Sheridan says 'If the thing is pressed I think that Lee will surrender.' Let the thing be pressed."
--From the April 7, 1865 Telegram to General Grant
"I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel."
--From the April 4, 1864 Letter to A.G. Hodges
"I am a little uneasy about the abolishment of slavery in this District, not but I would be glad to see it abolished, but as to the time and manner of doing it."
--From the March 24, 1862 Letter to Horace Greeley
"While we must, by all available means, prevent the overthrow of the government, we should avoid planting and cultivating too many thorns in the bosom of society."
--From the March 18, 1864 Letter to Edwin M. Stanton
"...I, Abraham Lincoln ... have invented a new and improved manner of combining adjustable bouyant air chambers with a steam boat or other vessel for the purpose of enabling their draught of water to be readily lessened to enable them to pass over bars, or through shallow water, without discharging their cargoes;"
--From the March 10, 1849 Application for Patent
"Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him, who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty."
--From the March 4, 1861 First Inaugural Address
"An inspection of the Constitution will show that the right of property in a slave in not 'distinctly and expressly affirmed' in it."
--From the February 27, 1860 Speech at the Cooper Institute
"The man does not live who is more devoted to peace than I am. None who would do more to preserve it. But it may be necessary to put the foot down firmly."
--From the February 21, 1861 Speech to the New Jersey General Assembly
"When the people rise in masses in behalf of the Union and the liberties of their country, truly may it be said, 'The gates of hell shall not prevail against them.'"
--From the February 11, 1861 Reply to Governor Morton
"In very truth he was, the noblest work of God -- an honest man."
--From the February 8, 1842 Eulogy of Benjamin Ferguson
"Towering genius distains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored."
--From the January 27, 1838 Lyceum Address
"The true rule for the Military is to seize such property as is needed for Military uses and reasons, and let the rest alone."
--From the January 20, 1865 Letter to Joseph J. Reynolds
"I have understood well that the duty of self-preservation rests solely with the American people."
--From the January 19, 1863 Letter to the Workingmen of England
"Still, to use a coarse, but an expressive figure, broken eggs can not be mended. I have issued the emancipation proclamation, and I can not retract it."
--From the January 8, 1863 Letter to John A. McClernand
"He who does something at the head of one Regiment, will eclipse him who does nothing at the head of a hundred."
--From the December 31, 1861 Letter to David Hunter
"In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and, to the young, it comes with bitterest agony, because it takes them unawares."
--From the December 23, 1862 Letter to Fanny McCullough
"I fully appreciate the present peril the country is in, and the weight of responsibility on me."
--From the December 22, 1860 Letter to Alexander Stephens
"Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change public opinion, can change the government, practically just so much."
--From the December 10, 1856 Speech at Chicago
"In stating a single condition of peace, I mean simply to say that the war will cease on the part of the government, whenever it shall have ceased on the part of those who began it."
--From the December 6, 1864 Annual Message to Congress
"In times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and eternity."
--From the December 1, 1862 Annual Message to Congress
"I am glad I made the late race. It gave me a hearing on the great and durable question of the age, which I could have had in no other way; and though I now sink out of view, and shall be forgotten, I believe I have made some marks which will tell for the cause of civil liberty long after I am gone."
--From the November 19, 1858 Letter to Anson G. Henry
"Every advocate of slavery naturally desires to see blasted, and crushed, the liberty promised the black man by the new constitution."
--From the November 14, 1864 Letter to Stephen A. Hurlbut
"I am thankful to God for this approval of the people. But while deeply grateful for this mark of their confidence in me, if I know my heart, my gratitude is free from any taint of personal triumph."
--From the November 8, 1864 Response to a Serenade
"I have endured a great deal of ridicule without much malice; and have received a great deal of kindness, not quite free from ridicule. I am used to it."
--From the November 2, 1863 Letter to James H. Hackett
"Being elected to Congress, though I am very grateful to our friends, for having done it, has not pleased me as much as I expected."
--From the October 22, 1846 Letter to Joshua Speed
"That is the issue that will continue in this country when these poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. It is the eternal struggle between these two principles -- right and wrong -- throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and will ever continue to struggle."
--From the October 15, 1858 Debate at Alton, Illinois
"When Judge Douglas says that whoever, or whatever community, wants slaves, they have a right to have them, he is perfectly logical if there is nothing wrong in the institution; but if you admit that it is wrong, he cannot logically say that anybody has a right to do wrong."
--From the October 13, 1858 Debate at Quincy, Illinois
"May our children and our children's children to a thousand generations, continue to enjoy the benefits conferred upon us by a united country, and have cause yet to rejoice under those glorious institutions bequeathed us by Washington and his compeers."
--From the October 4, 1862 Speech at Frederick, Maryland
"What I did, I did after very full deliberation, and under a heavy and solemn sense of responsibility. I can only trust in God that I have made no mistake."
--From the September 24, 1862 Reply to Serenade in Honor of Emancipation Proclamation
"...I do not mean to say that this government is charged with the duty of redressing or preventing all the wrongs in the world; but I do think that it is charged with the duty of preventing and redressing all wrongs which are wrongs to itself."
--From the September 17, 1859 Speech at Cincinnati, Ohio
"Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms. Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere."
--From the September 11, 1858 Speech at Edwardsville, Illinois
"We hoped for a happy termination of this terrible war long before this; but God knows best, and has ruled otherwise. We shall yet acknowledge His wisdom and our own error therein."
--From the September 4, 1864 Letter to Eliza P. Gurney
"Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties. And not to Democrats alone do I make this appeal, but to all who love these great and true principles."
--From the August 27, 1856 Speech at Kalamazoo, Michigan
"In this and like communities, public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed."
--From the August 21, 1858 Debate at Ottawa, Illinois
"In their enlightened belief, nothing stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its fellows."
--From the August 17, 1858 Speech at Lewistown, Illinois
"Tell dear Tad, poor 'Nanny Goat,' is lost; and Mrs. Cuthbert & I are in distress about it. The day you left Nanny was found resting herself, and chewing her little cud, on the middle of Tad's bed. But now she's gone!"
--From the August 8, 1863 Letter to Mary Lincoln
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy."
--From the ca. August 1, 1858 Fragment on Democracy
"All this talk about the dissolution of the Union is humbug -- nothing but folly. We WON'T dissolve the Union, and you SHAN'T."
--From the July 23, 1856 Speech at Galena, Illinois
"I was deeply mortified by the escape of Lee across the Potomac, because the substantial destruction of his army would have ended the war..."
--From the July 21, 1863 Letter to Oliver O. Howard
"Let us then turn this government back into the channel in which the framers of the Constitution originally placed it."
--From the July 10, 1858 Speech at Chicago
"And having thus chosen our course, without guile, and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear, and with manly hearts."
--From the July 4, 1861 Message to Congress
"I expect to maintain this contest until successful, or till I die, or am conquered, or my term expires, or Congress or the country forsakes me..."
--From the June 28, 1862 Letter to William H. Seward
"I have very earnestly urged the slave-states to adopt emancipation; and it ought to be, and is an object with me not to overthrow, or thwart what any of them may in good faith do, to that end."
--From the June 23, 1863 Letter to John M. Schofield
"War at the best, is terrible, and this war of ours, in its magnitude and in its duration, is one of the most terrible."
--From the June 16, 1864 Speech at Philadelphia
"In a word, I would not take any risk of being entangled upon the river, like an ox jumped half over a fence, and liable to be torn by dogs, front and rear, without a fair chance to gore one way or kick the other."
--From the June 5, 1863 Letter to Joseph Hooker
"Let your military measures be strong enough to repel the invader and keep the peace, and not so strong as to unnecessarily harrass and persecute the people."
--From the May 27, 1863 Letter to John M. Schofield
"May the Almighty grant that the cause of truth, justice, and humanity, shall in no wise suffer at my hands."
--From the May 21, 1860 Letter to Joshua Giddings
"Welcome, or unwelcome, agreeable, or disagreeable, whether this shall be an entire slave nation, is the issue before us."
--From the ca. May 18, 1858 Fragment of a Speech
"While we are grateful to all the brave men and officers for the events of the past few days, we should, above all, be very grateful to Almighty God, who gives us victory."
--From the May 9, 1864 Response to a Serenade
"Not expecting to see you again before the Spring campaign opens, I wish to express, in this way, my entire satisfaction with what you have done up to this time, so far as I understand it."
--From the April 30, 1864 Letter to Ulysses S. Grant
"Tell Tad the goats and father are very well -- especially the goats."
--From the April 28, 1864 Telegram to Mary Lincoln
"The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one. We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing."
--From the April 18, 1864 Address at Baltimore
"I have always thought 'Dixie' one of the best tunes I have ever heard. Our adversaries over the way attempted to appropriate it, but I insisted yesterday that we fairly captured it. I presented the question to the Attorney General, and he gave it as his legal opinion that it is our lawful prize."
--From the April 10, 1865 Response to a Serenade
"This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it."
--From the April 6, 1859 Letter to Henry Pierce and others
"The colored population is the great available and yet unavailed of, force for restoring the Union."
--From the March 26, 1863 Letter to Andrew Johnson
"Engaged, as I am, in a great war, I fear it will be difficult for the world to understand how fully I appreciate the principles of peace, inculcated in this letter, and everywhere, by the Society of Friends."
--From the March 19, 1862 Letter to Samuel B. Tobey
"Men are not flattered by being shown that there has been a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them. To deny it, however, in this case, is to deny that there is a God governing the world."
--From the March 15, 1865 Letter to Thurlow Weed
"I don't believe in a law to prevent a man from getting rich; it would do more harm than good. So while we do not propose any war upon capital, we do wish to allow the humblest man an equal chance to get rich with everybody else."
--From the March 6, 1860 Speech at New Haven, Connecticut
"How miserably things seem to be arranged in this world. If we have no friends, we have no pleasure; and if we have them, we are sure to lose them, and be doubly pained by the loss."
--From the February 25, 1842 Letter to Joshua Speed
"I am exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of the people shall be perpetuated in accordance with the original idea for which that struggle was made, and I shall be most happy indeed if I shall be an humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this, his almost chosen people, for perpetuating the object of that great struggle. "
--From the February 21, 1861 Speech to the New Jersey Senate
"I appeal to you again to constantly bear in mind that with you, and not with politicians, not with Presidents, not with office-seekers, but with you, is the question, "Shall the Union and shall the liberties of this country be preserved to the latest generation?"
--From the February 11, 1861 Speech to Gov. Morton in Indianapolis
"On principle I dislike an oath which requires a man to swear he has not done wrong. It rejects the Christian principle of forgiveness on terms of repentance. I think it is enough if the man does no wrong hereafter."
--From the February 5, 1864 Memorandum to Secretary Stanton
"I say now, however, as I have all the while said, that on the territorial question -- that is, the question of extending slavery under the national auspices, -- I am inflexible. I am for no compromise which assists or permits the extension of the institution on soil owned by the nation."
--From the February 1, 1861 Letter to William H. Seward
"And now, beware of rashness. Beware of rashness, but with energy, and sleepless vigilance, go forward, and give us victories."
--From the January 26, 1863 Letter to Joseph Hooker
"The restoration of the Rebel States to the Union must rest upon the principle of civil and political equality of both races; and it must be sealed by general amnesty."
--From the ca. January 1864, Letter to James S. Wadsworth
"We have just carried an election on principles fairly stated to the people. Now we are told in advance, the government shall be broken up, unless we surrender to those we have beaten, before we take the offices."
--From the January 11, 1863 Letter to James T. Hale
"And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God."
--From the January 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation
"Thoughtful men must feel that the fate of civilization upon this continent is involved in the issue of our contest."
--From the December 27, 1864 Letter to John Maclean
"Always a whig in politics, and generally on the whig electoral tickets, making active canvasses--I was losing interest in politics, when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again."
--From the December 20, 1859 Autobiography
"Let there be no compromise on the question of extending slavery. If there be, all our labor is lost, and, ere long, must be done again."
--From the December 10, 1861 Letter to Lyman Trumbull
"It is easy to see that, under the sharp discipline of civil war, the nation is beginning a new life."
--From the December 8, 1863 Message to Congress
"The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disentrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."
--From the December 1, 1862 Message to Congress
"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. "
--From the November 19, 1863 Gettysburg Address
"I am not at liberty to shift ground -- that is out of the question. If I thought a repetition would do any good I would make it. But my judgment is it would do positive harm. The secessionists, per se believing they had alarmed me, would clamor all the louder."
--From the November 16, 1860 Letter to Nathaniel Paschall
"I am thankful to God for this approval of the people. But while deeply grateful for this mark of their confidence in me, if I know my heart, my gratitude is free from any taint of personal triumph. I do not impugn the motives of any one opposed to me. It is no pleasure to me to triumph over any one; but I give thanks to the Almighty for this evidence of the people's resolution to stand by free government and the rights of humanity."
--From the November 8, 1864 Response to a Serenade
"To the best of my judgment I have labored for, and not against the Union."
--From the October 29, 1858 Speech at Springfield, Illinois
"If I had had my way, this war would never have been commenced; If I had been allowed my way this war would have ended before this, but we find it still continues; and we must believe that He permits it for some wise purpose of his own, mysterious and unknown to us; and though with our limited understandings we may not be able to comprehend it, yet we cannot but believe, that he who made the world still governs it."
--From the October 26, 1862 Reply to Eliza Gurney
"Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man's nature -- opposition to it in his love of justice. These principles are an eternal antagonism; and when brought into collision so fiercely, as slavery extension brings them, shocks, and throes, and convulsions must ceaselessly follow. Repeal the Missouri Compromise -- repeal all compromises -- repeal the declaration of independence -- repeal all past history, you still can not repeal human nature. It still will be the abundance of man's heart, that slavery extension is wrong; and out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth will continue to speak."
--From the October 16, 1854 Speech at Peoria
"I was aware, when it was first agreed that Judge Douglas and I were to have these seven joint discussions, that they were the successive acts of a drama -- perhaps I should say, to be enacted not merely in the face of audiences like this, but in the face of the nation..."
--From the October 13, 1858 Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Quincy, Illinois
"He [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."
--From the October 7, 1858 Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Galesburg, Illinois
"Every blade of grass is a study; and to produce two, where there was but one, is both a profit and a pleasure."
--From the September 30, 1859 Address before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society
"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."
--From the September 17, 1859 Speech in Cincinnati, Ohio
"Now what is Judge Douglas' Popular Sovereignty? It is, as a principle, no other than that, if one man chooses to make a slave of another man, neither that other man nor anybody else has a right to object."
--From the September 16, 1859 Speech in Columbus, Ohio
"All the good the Saviour gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it."
--From the September 7, 1864 Reply to Loyal Colored People of Baltimore upon Presentation of a Bible
"Nowhere in the world is presented a government of so much liberty and equality. To the humblest and poorest amongst us are held out the highest privileges and positions. The present moment finds me at the White House, yet there is as good a chance for your children as there was for my father's."
--From the August 31, 1864 Speech to 148th Ohio Regiment
"When he [Douglas] invites any people willing to have slavery, to establish it, he is blowing out the moral lights around us."
--From the August 21, 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debate at Ottawa, Illinois
"In this great struggle, this form of Government and every form of human right is endangered if our enemies succeed. There is more involved in this contest than is realized by every one."
--From the August 18, 1864 Speech to the 164th Ohio Regiment
"My purpose is to be, in my action, just and constitutional; and yet practical, in performing the important duty, with which I am charged, of maintaining the unity, and the free principles of our common country."
--From the August 7, 1863 Letter to Horatio Seymour
"I do not think I could myself, be brought to support a man for office, whom I knew to be an open enemy of, and scoffer at, religion."
--From the July 31, 1846 Handbill Replying to Charges of Infidelity
"The Presidency, even to the most experienced politicians, is no bed of roses; and Gen. Taylor like others, found thorns within it. No human being can fill that station and escape censure."
--From the July 25, 1850 Eulogy on Zachery Taylor
"I know not how to aid you, save in the assurance of one of mature age, and much severe experience, that you can not fail, if you resolutely determine, that you will not."
--From the July 22, 1860 Letter to George Latham
"I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal."
--From the July 10, 1858 Speech at Chicago, Illi
Tags: We Need Some One Like Him
