Abraham Lincoln
Some single mind must be master, else there will be no agreement in anything.
There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.
I go to assume a task more difficult than that which devolved upon Washington. Unless the great God, who assisted him, shall be with me and aid me, I must fail; but if the same omniscient mind and almighty arm that directed and protected him shall guide and support me, I shall not fail - I shall succeed.
If you think you can slander a woman into loving you, or a man into voting for you, try it till you are satisfied.
Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.
He who molds the public sentiment... makes statutes and decisions possible or impossible to make.
With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.
It is a great piece of folly to attempt to make anything out of my early life.
It is with your aid, as the people, that I think we shall be able to preserve - not the country, for the country will preserve itself, but the institutions of the country - those institutions which have made us free, intelligent and happy - the most free, the most intelligent, and the happiest people on the globe.
Why was the amendment, expressly declaring the right of the people to exclude slavery, voted down? Plainly enough now, the adoption of it would have spoiled the niche for the Dred Scott decision.
Republicans are for both the man and the dollar, but in case of conflict the man before the dollar.
If there should prove to be one real, living Free State Democrat in Kansas, I suggest that it might be well to catch him and stuff and preserve his skin as an interesting specimen of that soon-to-be-extinct variety of the genus Democrat.
Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States - old as well as new - North as well as South.
The man who could go to Africa and rob her of her children, and then sell them into interminable bondage, with no other motive than that which is furnished by dollars and cents, is so much worse than the most depraved murderer that he can never receive pardon at my hand.
A private soldier has as much right to justice as a major-general.
I never went to school more than six months in my life, but I can say this: that among my earliest recollections, I remember how, when a mere child, I used to get irritated when anybody talked to me in a way I could not understand.
It has so happened in all ages of the world that some have labored, and others have, without labor, enjoyed a large proportion of the fruits.
To give victory to the right, not bloody bullets, but peaceful ballots only, are necessary.
If a man had more than one life, I think a little hanging would not hurt this one; but after he is once dead, we cannot bring him back, no matter how sorry we may be; so the boy shall be pardoned.
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.
Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.
I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.
How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg? Four. Saying that a tail is a leg doesn't make it a leg.
Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.
I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.
Stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.
The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty. Plainly, the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of liberty.
Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.
As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.
He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.
I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.
I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.
The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
A house divided against itself cannot stand.
We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.
You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.
A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have.
A woman is the only thing I am afraid of that I know will not hurt me.
What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.
I don't know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be.
A man watches his pear tree day after day, impatient for the ripening of the fruit. Let him attempt to force the process, and he may spoil both fruit and tree. But let him patiently wait, and the ripe pear at length falls into his lap.
If I like a thing, it just sticks after once reading it or hearing it.
The people know their rights, and they are never slow to assert and maintain them when they are invaded.
I perhaps ought to say that individually I never was much interested in the Texas question. I never could see much good to come of annexation, inasmuch as they were already a free republican people on our own model.
When Southern people tell us they are no more responsible for the origin of slavery than we are, I acknowledge the fact. When it is said that the institution exists, and that it is very difficult to get rid of it in any satisfactory way, I can understand and appreciate the saying.
Oh, yes; you Virginians shed barrels of perspiration while standing off at a distance and superintending the work your slaves do for you. It is different with us. Here it is every fellow for himself, or he doesn't get there.
My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families - second families, perhaps I should say.