Abraham biography lincoln union quote

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Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Leave nothing for tomorrow that can be done today.

– Abraham Lincoln, Notes for a Law Lecture (1 July 1850)

Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people?

There is no permanent class of hired laborers amongst us … Twenty-five years ago, I was a hired laborer. I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were right, and I was wrong.

– Abraham Lincoln, Letter to Ulysses S. Grant, Washington, D.C. (13 July 1863)

The will of God prevails. What one of us but can call to mind some relative more promising in youth than all his fellows, who has fallen a sacrifice to his rapacity?

– Abraham Lincoln, Speech (22 February 1842)

Yield larger things to which you can show no more than equal right; and yield lesser ones, though clearly your own.

You can cast off the name of slave and trample upon it; it will come to you no more. I can only trust in God that I have made no mistake.

– Abraham Lincoln, Reply to Serenade in Honor of [Preliminary] Emancipation Proclamation (24 September 1862)

The strongest bond of human sympathy, outside of the family relation, should be one uniting all working people, of all nations, tongues, and kindreds.

– Abraham Lincoln, Reply to New York W.D.R.

Repeal the Missouri Compromise — repeal all compromises — repeal the Declaration of Independence — repeal all past history, you still can not repeal human nature. The Government will not assail you. There will still be business enough.

– Abraham Lincoln, Notes for a Law Lecture (1 July 1850)

I am not accustomed to the language of eulogy.

A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this. In December, Mary gave birth to another son, William Wallace Lincoln. I think I shall not retract or repudiate it.

In March, Abraham Lincoln officially became the 16th President of the United States at the age of 52. 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.

– Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation (01 January 1863)

Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man’s nature — opposition to it is in his love of justice.

If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.

What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union.

Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.

– Abraham Lincoln, Reply to New York Workingmen’s Democratic Republican Association (21 March 1864)

Every man is proud of what he does well, and no man is proud of what he does not do well.

Lincoln, Douglas, and Slavery: In the Crucible of Public Debate (1993) by David Zarefsky
6. I think we would have discovered that fact without the Bible.

– Abraham Lincoln, Debate with Stephen Douglas (15 October 1858)

Let us diligently apply the means, never doubting that a just God, in His own good time, will give us the rightful result.

– Abraham Lincoln, Letter to John C.

Conkling (26 August 1863)

To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell.

– Abraham Lincoln, Farewell Address (11 February 1861)

May the Almighty grant that the cause of truth, justice, and humanity shall in no wise suffer at my hands.

– Abraham Lincoln, Letter to Joshua Giddings (21 May 1860)

God created all men free, giving each the same rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

– Abraham Lincoln, In Richmond, Virginia (4 April 1865)

I have said nothing but I am willing to live by, and, in the pleasure of Almighty God, die by.

– Abraham Lincoln, Speech at Philadelphia (22 February 1861)

When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that’s my religion.

– Abraham Lincoln, Herndon’s Lincoln (1890)

Abraham Lincoln Quotes About Friendship, Love, And Pain

In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all, and it often comes with bitter agony.

Abraham Lincoln: A Life (2008) by Michael Burlingame
10. IS there any better or equal hope in the world?

– Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address (4 March 1861)

I believe the declaration that ‘all men are created equal’ is the great fundamental principle upon which our free institutions rest.

– Abraham Lincoln, Letter to James N.

Brown (18 October 1858)

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

– A Paraphrase of a Statement in the Lyceum Address of 1838, Misattributed to A. Lincoln

Most people can bear adversity, but if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power.

The family moved to Indiana two years after the boy's birth to start over. In one instance, he colorfully undercut Douglas’s arguments for the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision as “as thin as the homeopathic soup that was made by boiling the shadow of a pigeon that had starved to death.”