351 quotes
This was the only time Abraham was ever beaten on a direct vote of the people.
A Short Autobiography (1860)
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.
Autobiographical Sketch Written for Jesse W. Fell (1859)
We shall not fail — if we stand firm, we shall not fail. Wise counsels may accelerate, or mistakes delay it, but, sooner or later, the victory is sure to come.
The House Divided speech (1858)
I never tire of reading Tom Paine.
A Literary History of the American People (1931)
No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation.
Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him, who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty.
My poor friends, you are free, free as air. You can cast off the name of slave and trample upon it; it will come to you no more. Liberty is your birthright. God gave it to you as He gave it to others, and it is a sin that you have been deprived of it for so many years.
Tour of Richmond (1865)
The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the people … His duty is to administer the present Government as it came to his hands and to transmit it unimpaired by him to his successor.
Mr. Clay, during my whole political life, I have loved and revered as a teacher and leader.
... none seemed to think the injury arose from the use of a bad thing, but from the abuse of a very good thing.
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.
Has it not got down as thin as the homeopathic soup that was made by boiling the shadow of a pigeon that had starved to death?
Lincoln–Douglas debates (1858)
Whatever Spiteful fools may Say —
Each jealous, ranting yelper —
No woman ever played the whore
Unless She had a man to help her.
In a certain sense the liberation of slaves is the destruction of property — property acquired by descent or by purchase, the same as any other property.
I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men every where could be free.
Letter to Horace Greeley (1862)
It has long been a grave question whether any government, not too strong for the liberties of its people, can be strong enough to maintain its existence in great emergencies.
On Democratic Government (1864)
Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having passed both branches of the General Assembly at its present session, the undersigned hereby protest against the passage of the same.
Illinois House Journal (1837)
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.
Emancipation Proclamation (1863)
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
I repeat the question, 'Can Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation with the Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new State Government?'
Last public address (1865)