Quotes By Abraham Lincoln

I hope to stand firm enough to not go backward, and yet not go forward fast enough to wreck the country's cause.

Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.

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.

When I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he were fighting bees.

Some single mind must be master, else there will be no agreement in anything.

The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.

I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.

Surely God would not have created such a being as man, with an ability to grasp the infinite, to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality.

No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.

Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this.

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.

Public opinion in this country is everything.

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.

Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.

I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.

I was losing interest in politics, when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again. What I have done since then is pretty well known.

These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people.

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.

The highest art is always the most religious, and the greatest artist is always a devout person.

He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.

Whatever you are, be a good one.

I can make more generals, but horses cost money.

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.

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.

Marriage is neither heaven nor hell, it is simply purgatory.

With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die.

The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.

I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end... I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.

When I am getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one-third of my time thinking about myself and what I am going to say and two-thirds about him and what he is going to say.

Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't very new at all.