Monday, September 29, 2014

Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 241



'No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.'
- Abraham Lincoln

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 240



LINCOLN COULD ENTHUSE OVER ANYTHING!
'No other human occupation opens so wide a field for the profitable and agreeable combination of labor with cultivated thought, as agriculture. I know of nothing so pleasant to the mind, as the discovery of anything which is at once new and valuable -- nothing which so lightens and sweetens toil, as the hopeful pursuit of such discovery. And how vast, and how varied a field is agriculture, for such discovery. The mind, already trained to thought, in the country school, or higher school, cannot fail to find there an exhaustless source of profitable enjoyment.'
- Abraham Lincoln

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 239



Nobody was as passionate about reconciliation between North and South as Lincoln. At one point he was visiting the sick and wounded, and came on a tent with Confederate wounded. Shot-torn in both hips lay Henry L. Benbow, a Confederate Colonel, and according to Colonel Benbow, ‘the President halted beside my bed and held out his hand. I was lying on my back, my hands folded across my breast. Looking him in the face I said, “Mr. President, do you know who it is to whom you offer your hand?” “I do not,” he replied. I said, “You offer it to a Confederate colonel who has fought you as hard as he could for four years!” “Well,” said he, “I hope a Confederate colonel will not refuse me his hand.” “No sir,” I replied, “I will not,” and I clasped his hand in both of mine.'

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 238



One of Lincoln’s colleagues in the Illinois legislature wrote, 'We followed his lead; but he followed nobody's lead. It may almost be said that he did our thinking for us. He inspired respect although he was careless and negligent. He was poverty itself but independent. He sought company and indulged in fun without stint... still when by himself he told me that he was so overcome by mental depression that he never dared carry a knife in his pocket.'

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 237



People underestimated Lincoln at their peril. Lincoln’s long-time friend and colleague on the Illinois circuit Leonard Swett said, ‘He was as wise as a serpent in the trial of a case. I have got too many scars from his blows to certify that he was harmless as a dove.’
- Leonard Swett

Friday, September 19, 2014

Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 236



DO WE STILL AGREE?
'Property is the fruit of labor. Property is desirable, is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.'
- Abraham Lincoln

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 235



'Recognizing me, even before I reached him, the president exclaimed, so that all around could hear him, “Here comes my friend Douglass.” Taking me by the hand, he said, “I am glad to see you. I saw you in the crowd today, listening to my inaugural address; how did you like it?” I said, “Mr. Lincoln, I must not detain you with my poor opinion when there are thousands waiting to shake hands with you.” “No, no,” he said, “you must stop a little, Douglass; there is no man in the country whose opinion I value more than yours. I want to know what you thought of it.” I replied, “Mr. Lincoln, that was a sacred effort.”’
- Frederick Douglass, Ex-slave, White House reception after Second Inaugural Address

Monday, September 15, 2014

Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 234



'Still, to use a coarse, but an expressive figure, broken eggs cannot be mended. I have issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and I can not retract it.'
- Abraham Lincoln

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 233



'Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man's nature -- opposition to it is in his love of justice. These principles are in eternal antagonism; and when brought into collision so fiercely, as slavery’s extension brings them, shocks, and throes, and convulsions must ceaselessly follow. Repeal the Missouri Compromise -- repeal all compromises -- repeal the Declaration of Independence -- repeal all past history, you still cannot repeal human nature. It still will be the abundance of man's heart that slavery's extension is wrong; and out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth will continue to speak.'
- Abraham Lincoln

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 232



‘That Lincoln, after winning the presidency, made the unprecedented decision to incorporate his eminent rivals into his political family, the cabinet, was evidence of a profound self-confidence and a first indication of what would prove to others a most unexpected greatness… Every member of this administration was better known, better educated, and more experienced in public life than Lincoln. Their presence in the cabinet might have threatened to eclipse the obscure prairie lawyer from Springfield. It soon became clear, however, that Abraham Lincoln would emerge the undisputed captain of this most unusual cabinet, truly a team of rivals.  The powerful competitors who had originally disdained Lincoln became colleagues who helped him steer the country through its darkest days.’
- Doris Kearns Goodwin

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 231



'… that on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.'
- Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation

Monday, September 8, 2014

Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 230



'That some achieve great success is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.'
- Abraham Lincoln

Friday, September 5, 2014

Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 229



'...that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.'
- Abraham Lincoln

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 228



The anxiety in Washington about Lincoln's minimal chances for re-election in 1864 ended in September with the fall of Atlanta, the South’s principle city and rail-head. Once that happened everybody suddenly saw the light. Horace Greeley announced that his newspaper The New York Tribune would 'henceforth fly the banner of Abraham Lincoln for President.' Lincoln's enemies within the Republican Party like Salmon Chase the former Treasury Secretary as well as Benjamin Wade and Henry Davis all chose to stump for the President. Similarly Wendell Phillips, who had written, 'I would cut off both hands before doing anything to aid Lincoln's election,' did his about-face in October. Even Thaddeus Stevens waxed eloquent about Lincoln's 'firm grasp of the pilot at the helm.'

Monday, September 1, 2014

Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 227



'The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.'
- Abraham Lincoln