The man does not live who is more devoted to peace than I am. None who would do more to preserve it.

We can succeed only by concert. It is not 'can any of us imagine better?, but 'can we all do better?

The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read.

The political horizon looks dark and lowering; but the people, under Providence, will set all right.

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

Now, and ever, I shall do all in my power for peace, consistently with the maintenance of government.

There is another old poet whose name I do not now remember who said, 'Truth is the daughter of Time.'

When you have got an elephant by the hind legs and he is trying to run away, it's best to let him run.

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.

It will not do to investigate the subject of religion too closely, as it is apt to lead to infidelity.

If I am killed, I can die by once; but to live in constant dread of it, is to die over and over again.

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

Labor is the great source from which nearly all, if not all, human comforts and necessities are drawn.

I could as easily bail out the Potomac River with a teaspoon as attend to all the details of the army.

In order to win a man to your cause, you must first reach his heart, the great high road to his reason.

I was elected a Captain of Volunteers--a success which gave me more pleasure than any I have had since.

Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention.

We can succeed only by concert. It is not, 'Can any of us imagine better,' but, 'Can we all do better?'

I believe I shall never be old enough to speak without embarrassment when I have nothing to talk about.

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.

That everyone may receive at least a moderate education appears to be an objective of vital importance.

As we keep or break the Sabbath Day we nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope by which man rises.

Great distance in either time or space has wonderful power to lull and render quiescent the human mind.

The working men are the basis of all governments, for the plain reason that they are the most numerous.

If you are resolutely determined to make a lawyer of yourself, the thing is more than half done already.

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

How many times have I laughed at you telling me plainly that I was too lazy to be anything but a lawyer.

I sincerely wish war was a pleasanter and easier business than it is, but it does not admit of holidays.

The people know their rights, and they are never slow to assert and maintain them when they are invaded.

When you lack interest in the case the job will very likely lack skill and diligence in the performance.

The demon of intemperance ever seems to have delighted in sucking the blood of genius and of generosity.

The fiery trials through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation.

None seemed to think the injury arose from the use of a bad thing but from the abuse of a very good thing

I am busily engaged in the study of the Bible. I believe it is God's word because it finds me where I am.

The people know their rights, and they are never slow to assert and maintain them, when they are invaded.

Be with a leader when he is right, stay with him when he is still right, but, leave him when he is wrong.

Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.

If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem.

I'm a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn't have the heart to let him down.

It is a quality of revolutions not to go by old lines or old laws, but to break up both and make new ones.

Must a government be too strong for the liberties of its people or too weak to maintain its own existence?

The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land.

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

I wish to see, in process of disappearing, that only thing which ever could bring this nation to civil war.

My paramount objective in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not to either save or destroy Slavery.

How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.

My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families - second families, perhaps I should say.

There's no honorable way to kill, no gentle way to destroy. There is nothing good in war. Except its ending.

Stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.

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

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