Abraham Lincoln Quotations | Page 5

Nations do not die from invasion; they die from internal rottenness.

It is not our frowning battlements...or the strength of our gallant and disciplined army. These are not our reliance against a resumption of tyranny in our fair land....Our defence is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere.

The president is the cube of ice one places in the pot of a houseplant, providing a steady amount of nourishment over the course of a hot day. A good description of the job and also a fantastic bit of practical household advice.

I ... ran for Legislature [in 1832] ... and was beaten-the only time I have been beaten by the people.

I hold the value of life is to improve one's condition. Whatever is calculated to advance the condition of the honest, struggling laboring man, so far as my judgment will enable me to judge of a correct thing, I am for that thing.

I do not deny the possibility that the people may err in an election; but if they do, the true [cure] is in the next election, and not in the treachery of the person elected.

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.

I am approached with the most opposite opinions and advice, and that by religious men, who are equally certain that they represent the Divine will. I am sure that either the one or the other class is mistaken in that belief, and perhaps in some respects both.

I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government; and to redress wrongs already long enough endured.

I cannot bring myself to believe that any human being lives who would do me any harm.

It is to deny, what the history of the world tells us is true, to suppose that men of ambition and talents will not continue to spring up amongst us. And, when they do, they will as naturally seek the gratification of their ruling passion, as others have so done before them.

Reduce the supply of black labor by colonizing the black laborer out of the country, and by precisely so much you increase the demand for and wages of white labor.

Senator Douglas holds, we know, that a man may rightfully be wiser today than he was yesterday - that he may rightfully change when he finds himself wrong. But can we, for that reason, run ahead, and infer that he will make any particular change, of which he, himself, has given no intimation?

Slavery is wrong. If Slavery is right, all words, acts, laws, and Constitutions against it, are themselves wrong, and should be silenced, and swept away.

The foregoing history may not be precisely accurate in every particular; but I am sure it is sufficiently so, for all the uses I shall attempt to make of it, and in it, we have before us, the chief material enabling us to correctly judge whether the repeal of the Missouri Compromise is right or wrong.

The master not only governs the slave without his consent, but he governs him by a set of rules altogether different from those which he prescribes for himself. Allow ALL the governed an equal voice in the government, and that, and that only, is self-government.

We shall not fail - if we stand firm, we shall not fail. Wise counsels may accelerate, or mistakes delay it, but, sooner or later, the victory is sure to come.

What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence?

We can not have free government without elections; and if the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.

Friends, I agree with you in Providence; but I believe in the Providence of the most men, the largest purse, and the longest cannon.

He will have to learn, I know, that all people are not just- that all men and women are not true. Teach him that for every scoundrel there is a hero that for every enemy there is a friend. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest people to lick.

Don't swap horses in the middle of the stream.

The press has no better friend than I am, no one who is more ready to acknowledge . . . its tremendous power for both good and evil.

I always [or "often"] walk slowly, but I never walk backwards.

Everybody appreciates a compliment.

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.

I must keep some standard of principle fixed within myself.

I cannot speak so confidently about the fighting qualities of the Eastern men, or what are called Yankees - not knowing myself particularly to whom the appellation belongs - but this I do know - if the Southerners think that man for man they are better than our Illinois men, or western men generally, they will discover themselves in a grievous mistake.

I hold that while a man exists, it is his duty to improve not only his own condition, but to assist in ameliorating mankind.

A man's legs must be long enough to reach the ground.

If 600,000 people have to die in order for the nation to live, then 600,000 people will die.

We will make converts day by day; we will grow strong by the violence and injustice of our adversaries. And, unless truth be a mockery and justice a hollow lie, we will be in the majority after a while.

All the armies of Europe combined could not by force make a track upon the Blue Ridge, or take a drink from the Ohio. If we are to be destroyed, we must do it ourselves.

I cannot think that we are useless or God would not have created us.

In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man.

You are young, and I am older; You are hopeful, I am not- Enjoy life, ere it grow colder- Pluck the roses ere they rot.

Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can.

You have more of a feeling of personal resentment than I have. Perhaps, I have too little of it, but I never thought it paid.

Better to remain silent and thought a fool, than to speak out and confirm that you didn't do the assigned readings before the strategic planning retreat.

The Constitution is not a suicide pact.

We all declare for liberty, but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing.

Towering genius...thirsts and burns for distinction; and, if possible, it will have it, whether at the expense of emancipating slaves or enslaving freeman.

Do I not damage my enemies after i make them my close friends?

The damnest scoundrel that ever lived, but in the infinite mercy of Providence... also the damnest fool.

The best time to stop a fight is before it starts. The best vitamin for developing friends is B1. The best way to destroy an enemy in to make him a friend.

Cortissoz was art critic of the New York Herald Tribune.

It has been said that one bad general is better than two good ones, and the saying is true if taken to mean no more than that an army is better directed by a single mind, though inferior, than by two superior ones at variance and cross-purposes with each other.

Never let your correspondence fall behind.

Our popular government has often been called an experiment. Two points in it our people have already settled, the successful establishing and the successful administering of it. One still remains, its successful maintenance against a formidable internal attempt to overthrow it.

Liquor may have its defenders, but it has no defense.

I always remember the prayers of my mother as they always forever.

I am for the people of the whole nation doing just as they please in all matters which concern the whole nation; for that of each part doing just as they choose in all matters which concern no other part; and for each individual doing just as he chooses in all matters which concern nobody else.

The best way to get rid of your enemies is to make them your friends.

Towering genius distains a beaten path.

We cannot but believe that He who made the world still governs it.

You know you've reached middle age when all you exercise is caution

When met with a problem I always ask myself what is the right thing to do and then I do it.

I am a moderate walker, however I never stroll back.

Your rights end where my nose begins.

In my entire life I have only met four "perfect" people... and I disliked them all.

I do not doubt that our country will finally come through safe and undivided. But do not misunderstand me... I do not rely on the patriotism of our people... the bravery and devotion of the boys in blue... (or) the loyalty and skill of our generals... But the God of our fathers, Who raised up this country to be the refuge and asylum of the oppressed and downtrodden of all nations, will not let it perish now. I may not live to see it... I do not expect to see it, but God will bring us through safe.

If it were not for my firm belief in an overruling Providence, it would be difficult for me, in the midst of such complications of affairs, to keep my reason on its seat. But I am confident that the Almighty has His plans, and will work them out; and, whether we see it or not, they will be the best for us.

Cling to liberty and right; battle fro them; leed for them; die for them, if need be; and have confidence in God.

Should my administration prove to be a very wicked one...or a very foolish one, if you, the people, are true to yourselves and the Constitution, there is little harm I can do, thank God.

In all that people can do for themselves, government ought not to interfere.

When I go hear a man speak, I like to hear him speak like he's fighting a swarm of bees.

When you have got a ticket to send, and you're not a top costumer, it's best not to waste your time.

To say a sheep has 5 legs doesn't make it so.

We seek not to overthrow the constitution, but to overthrow those who would prevert it.

Wise statesmen ... established these great self-evident truths, that when in the distant future some man, some faction, some interest, should set up the doctrine that none but rich men, or none but white men, were entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, their posterity should look up again at the Declaration of Independence and take courage to renew the battle which their fathers began....

No man has a right to judge Andrew Johnson in any respect who has not suffered as much and done as much as he for the Nation's sake.

When I lay down the reins of this administration, I want to have one friend left. And that friend is myself.

And upon this act [Emancipation Proclamation]...I invoke...the gracious favor of Almighty God.

Committee: A group which succeeds in getting something done only when it consists of three members, one of whom happens to be sick and another absent.

A good, real, unrestrained, hearty laugh is a sort of glorified internal massage, performed rapidly and automatically. It manipulates and revitalizes corners and unexplored crannies of the system that are unresponsive to most other exercise methods. With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die.

I will learn, the opportunity will come.

Fellow countrymen: At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first...The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured...

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

Labor is superior to capital and precedes capital. Without labor, there is no capital.

If you have never failed you have never lived.

If you understand what you're doing, you're not learning anything.

Let us do nothing through passion and ill temper.

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.

The legalized liquor business is the tragedy of our civilization. Alcohol is the greatest and most blighting curse of our modern civilization. The liquor seller is simply and only a privileged malefactor - a criminal.

To lead, you must touch men's hearts.

Let all Americans - let all lovers of liberty everywhere - join in the great and good work. If we do this, we shall not only have saved the Union; but we shall have so saved it, as to make, and to keep it, forever worthy of the saving.

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

Everybody likes compliment.

If we believe the Bible, we must accept the fact that, in the old days, God and his angels came to humans in their sleep and made themselves known in dreams.

Weakness is what keeps driving us to God, by the overwhelming conviction that there just isn't anywhere else to go.

It's time for me to go. But I would rather stay.

Do you think we choose the times into which we are born? Or do we fit the times we are born into?

Shall we stop this bleeding?

I am the president of the United States of America, clothed in immense power! You will procure me those votes!

The blessing always comes back to the door of the author.

Knavery and flattery are blood relations.

Through their deeds, the dead of battle have spoken more eloquently for themselves than any of the living ever could. But we can only honor them by rededicating ourselves to the cause for which they gave a last full measure of devotion.

Force is all conquering, but it's victories are short lived.

Nothing will divert me from my purpose.

The better part of one's life consists of his friendships.