Inspiring & Life-Changing Abraham Lincoln Quotes
Abraham Lincoln, a great pragmatist and radical who was born into poverty became the 16th president of the U.S. from 1861-1865. There has been no other figure still today like Lincoln not only in America but also in modern history. He was an American statesman and self-studied lawyer who abolished slavery, saved the union, and modernized the U.S. economy. Abraham Lincoln quotes are readable, deep and so motivating that can change your belief system. Lincoln lived a hard life, a farmer, a carpenter who moved his family from rural Kentucky to frontier Indiana.
Before entering into politics lincoln’s political hero was henry clay who was a Congress leader and himself owned a slave group. He supported clay’s American system. Lincoln became the most loved president. Abraham Lincoln’s famous quote on democracy “government of the people, for the people and by the people shall not perish from the earth.” For black people, he was a great liberator because of his belief in equal political rights and freedom. he expressed democracy “ AS I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.”
Abraham Lincoln had to change his leadership to win the civil war. From the start of his presidency to his death, his motto was clear to preserve the union. Lincoln never slept in his bedroom. He broke the traditional norms and stepped out of the social prison of the white house. The war years were very difficult for Lincoln and his family as his young son willie died in 1862. His wife mary Lincoln held séances in the white house hoping to communicate with him. During the civil war, Lincoln even went across the street to the war department to get the news. He implemented a successful public letter-writing campaign in his own country. Lincoln created a new relationship with both military and the general public.
Things you may not know about Abraham Lincoln, a great emancipator
The man who ended slavery, ended the civil war between north and south America, he has been hero-worshipped by many Americans .some unknown facts about lincoln:
- He is enshrined in WWE because Lincoln was an accomplished wrestler.
- Grave robbers tried stealing lincoln’s corpse.
- Abraham Lincoln is the only patent president for a device lifting boats over shoals.
- Lincoln himself tested rifles outside the white house.
- Lincoln created secret service hours before he was shot dead at ford’s theatre.
- He had no direct descendants even after having four sons.
Abraham Lincoln Quotes on Inspirational
A house divided against itself cannot stand.
The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.
Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new at all.
Every one desires to live long, but no one would be old.
Freedom is the last, best hope of earth.
He has a right to criticize, who has the heart to help.
I am nothing, truth is everything.
I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.
In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.
No man is good enough to govern another man without the other’s consent.
Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind.
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.
Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.
Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.
More Inspirational Quotes Messages
Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.
We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.
What is to be, will be, and no prayers of ours can arrest the decree.
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.
It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues
You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.
If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business.
Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.
Determine that the thing can and shall be done and then — find the way.
Abraham Lincoln Quotes on Leadership
Property is the fruit of labor; property is desirable; it is a positive good in the world.
Nothing valuable can be lost by taking the time.
In times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and eternity.
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.
If there is anything that a man can do well, I say let him do it. Give him a chance.
More Abraham Lincoln Quotes Messages on Leadership
I have endured a great deal of ridicule without much malice; and have received a great deal of kindness, not quite free from ridicule. I am used to it.
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.
If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.
I am rather inclined to silence, and whether that be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot.
Abraham Lincoln Quotes on Life
There are no bad pictures; that’s just how your face looks sometimes.
Tact: the ability to describe others as they see themselves.
No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.
Love is the chain to lock a child to its parent.
Human action can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed.
A farce or comedy is best played; a tragedy is best read at home.
For people who like that kind of a book that is the kind of book they will like.
You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry.
He has a right to criticize, who has the heart to help.
Abraham Lincoln Messages on Life
Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be.
Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them.
Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in.
I am rather inclined to silence, and whether that be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot.
You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.
Abraham Lincoln Quotes on Slavery
This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.
As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.
In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth.
You think slavery is right and should be extended; while we think slavery is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial difference between us.
The one victory we can ever call complete will be that one which proclaims that there is not one slave or one drunkard on the face of God’s green earth.
All I ask for the negro is that if you do not like him, let him alone. If God gave him but little, that little let him enjoy.
I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal.
No man is good enough to govern another man, without that other’s consent. I say this is the leading principle–the sheet anchor of American republicanism.
Abraham Lincoln Quotes on Friends
If we have no friends, we have no pleasure; and if we have them, we are sure to lose them, and be doubly pained by the loss.
I distrust the wisdom if not the sincerity of friends who would hold my hands while my enemies stab me.
I never encourage deceit, and falsehood, especially if you have got a bad memory, is the worst enemy a fellow can have. The fact is truth is your truest friend, no matter what the circumstances are.
Abraham Lincoln Success Quotes
Always bear in mind that your own resolution to success is more important than any other thing.
I have a congenital aversion to failure.
I happen temporarily to occupy this big White House. And, I am living witness that any one of your children may look to come here as my father’s child has.
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.
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. Also, I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.
Abraham Lincoln Captions on Government
The United States government must not undertake to run the Churches. When an individual, in the Church or out of it, becomes dangerous to the public interest he must be checked.
Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable – a most sacred right – a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world.
A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.
This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember it or overthrow it.
I desire to so conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, 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.
Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed.
The ballot is stronger than the bullet.
I cannot make it better known than it already is that I strongly favor colonization.
Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser – in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker, the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough.
The love of property and consciousness of right and wrong have conflicting places in our organization, which often makes a man’s course seem crooked, his conduct a riddle.
What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?
Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.
Abraham Lincoln Internet Quote
Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.
Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.
My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.
There is another old poet whose name I do not now remember who said, Truth is the daughter of Time.
To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.
Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.
Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.
The ballot is stronger than the bullet.
It really hurts me very much to suppose that I have wronged anybody on earth.
Abraham Lincoln Funny Quotes
When I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he were fighting bees.
When you have got an elephant by the hind legs and he is trying to run away, it’s best to let him run.
What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.
Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.
Marriage is neither heaven nor hell, it is simply purgatory.
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.
A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.
More Lincoln Sayings Messages on Funny
I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.
No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.
If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.
You can fool some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.
No matter how much the cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.
Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them.
I learned a great many years ago that in a fight between husband and wife, a third party should never get between the woman’s skillet and the man’s ax-helve.
Abraham Lincoln Mother Quote
All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother. – Abraham Lincoln
Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in.
Beavers build houses; but they build them in nowise differently, or better now, than they did, five thousand years ago. Ants, and honey-bees, provide food for winter; but just in the same way they did, when Solomon referred the sluggard to them as patterns of prudence.
Man is not the only animal who labors, but he is the only one who improves his workmanship.
Abraham Lincoln Famous Quotes
Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.
The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly.
Hold on with a bulldog grip, and chew and choke as much as possible.
If a man says he knows a thing, then he must show how he knows it.
True patriotism is better than the wrong kind of piety.
Let none falter, who thinks he is right, and we may succeed.
Lincoln Famous Quotes
In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and to the young, it comes with bitterest agony because it takes them unawares. I have had experience enough to know what I say.
I am exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of the people shall be perpetuated in accordance with the original idea for which that struggle was made, and I shall be most happy indeed if I shall be a humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this, his almost chosen people, for perpetuating the object of that great struggle.
We shall sooner have the fowl by hatching the egg than by smashing it.
Labor is a great source from which nearly all, if not all, human comforts and necessities are drawn.
Abraham Quotes on Motivational
A house divided against itself cannot stand.
A tendency to melancholy… let it be observed, is a misfortune, not a fault.
Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.
I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.
If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?
More Lincoln Quotes on Motivational
I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day.
Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it,
I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in.
There are no accidents in my philosophy. Every effect must have its cause.
The past is the cause of the present, and the present will be the cause of the future.
All these are links in the endless chain stretching from the finite to the infinite.
I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me.
They have clung to me all my life.
I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal.
Final words:-
Abraham Lincoln’s quotes are as real and full of revolution as Lincoln himself was. Lincoln is the only president who was assassinated and this made him a martyr to the cause of liberty. He was shot dead by John Wilkes Booth. His last words were: “We will visit the Holy Land, and see those places hallowed by the footsteps of the Savior”. If Abraham had not been assassinated he would have pushed for equal civil and political rights for African Americans. So in short Abraham lincoln is an honest hero, a role model who stopped slavery with compassion and still lives in many hearts.
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