Abraham Lincoln Quotes

President of the United States from 1861 to 1865

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Abraham Lincoln (12 February 1809 – 15 April 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Initially entering politics as a Whig, he became a member of the US congress from Illinois, and later the first Republican president, leading Union forces throughout the moral, constitutional, political and military crises of the American Civil War, during which he abolished slavery and strengthened the U.S. government.

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Alternative Names: Honest Abe • President Lincoln • Abe Lincoln • Uncle Abe • A. Lincoln • Lincoln

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I have always thought that all men should be free; but if any should be slaves, it should be first those who desire for themselves, and secondly those who desire it for others. Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.

Be not deceived. Revolutions do not go backward.

The struggle of today, is not altogether for today - it is for a vast future also.

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.

Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition... I have no other so great as that of being truely esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.

Semua orang bisa tahan dengan kesengsaraan, tapi bila kau ingin mengetahui karakter seseorang, berilah dia kekuasaan.

IF you are going to fight, don't let them talk you into negotiating. But, if you are going to negotiate, don't let them talk you into fighting.

If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first six of them sharpening my axe.

And having thus chosen our course, without guile, and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in GOD, and go forward without fear, and with manly hearts.
Abraham Lincoln, in an address to congress
July 4th, 1861

Important principles may and must be inflexible.

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

Avoid popularity if you would have peace

If you want to test a man's character, give him power.

Laughter can be used to sooth the mind and get rid of those awful thoughts.

The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself every way he can, never suspecting that anybody wishes to hinder him. Allow me to assure you that suspicion and jealousy never did help any man in any situation. There may sometimes be ungenerous attempts to keep a young man down; and they will succeed, too, if he allows his mind to be diverted from its true channel to brood over the attempted injury. Cast about and see if this feeling has not injured every person you have ever known to fall into it.