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Quotes, Quips, and Speeches
More than 140 years since his death, the enduring legacy of a great president, an American success story, and the celebrated leader of the Civil War continues. Abraham Quotes, Quips, and Speeches captures the essence of the sixteenth president. In addition to Lincoln's own words, Gordon Leidner includes insights into the man by those who knew him best, from his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, to his greatest political opponent, Stephen A. Douglas. Every quote is sourced in the end notes. Numerous photographs add to the charm and usefulness of the book.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2009
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436 people want to read
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Abraham Lincoln
2,373 books1,971 followersAbraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States from 1861, led during the Civil War, and emancipated slaves in the south in 1863; shortly after the end, John Wilkes Booth assassinated him.
Abraham Lincoln, an American lawyer, politician, and man, served until 1865. Lincoln defended the American constitutional nation, defeated the insurgent Confederacy, abolished, expanded the power of the Federal government, and modernized the economy.
A mother bore him into poverty in a log cabin in Kentucky, and parents reared on the frontier, primarily in Indiana. He educated as a lawyer in Whig party, joined legislature, and represented Illinois. In 1849, he returned to his successful law practice in Springfield, Illinois.
The Kansas–Nebraska act in 1854 opened the territories, angered him, and caused him to re-enter politics. He quickly joined the new Republican Party. He reached a national audience in the campaign debates against Stephen Arnold Douglas for Senate in 1858. Lincoln ran in 1860 and swept the north to gain victory. Other elements viewed his election as a threat and from the nation began seceding. During this time, the newly formed Confederate of America began seizing Federal military bases. A little over one month after Lincoln assumed, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Following the bombardment, Lincoln mobilized forces to suppress the rebellion and restored.
Lincoln, a moderate, navigated a contentious array of factions with friends and opponents from the Democratic Party and Republican Party. His allies, the Democrats, and the radical Republicans, demanded harsh treatment of the Confederates. He exploited mutual enmity of the factions, carefully distributing political patronage, and appealed to the American people. Democrats, called "Copperheads," despised Lincoln, and some irreconcilable pro-Confederate elements went so far as to plot. People came to see his greatest address at Gettysburg as a most influential statement of American national purpose. Lincoln closely supervised the strategy and tactics in the effort, including the selection of generals, and implemented a naval blockade of the trade. He suspended habeas corpus in Maryland and elsewhere, and averted British intervention by defusing the Trent Affair. He issued the proclamation, which declared free those "in rebellion." It also directed the Navy to "recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons" and to receive them "into the armed service." Lincoln pressured border to outlaw, and he promoted the thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished, except as punishment for a crime.
Lincoln managed his own successful re-election campaign. He sought to heal the torn nation through reconciliation. On April 14, 1865, just five days after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, he attended a play at theater of Ford in Washington, District of Columbia, with Mary Todd Lincoln, his wife, when Confederate sympathizer fatally shot him. People remember Lincoln as a martyr and a national hero for his time and for his efforts to preserve and abolish. Popular and scholarly polls often rank Lincoln as the greatest president in American history.
Abraham Lincoln, an American lawyer, politician, and man, served until 1865. Lincoln defended the American constitutional nation, defeated the insurgent Confederacy, abolished, expanded the power of the Federal government, and modernized the economy.
A mother bore him into poverty in a log cabin in Kentucky, and parents reared on the frontier, primarily in Indiana. He educated as a lawyer in Whig party, joined legislature, and represented Illinois. In 1849, he returned to his successful law practice in Springfield, Illinois.
The Kansas–Nebraska act in 1854 opened the territories, angered him, and caused him to re-enter politics. He quickly joined the new Republican Party. He reached a national audience in the campaign debates against Stephen Arnold Douglas for Senate in 1858. Lincoln ran in 1860 and swept the north to gain victory. Other elements viewed his election as a threat and from the nation began seceding. During this time, the newly formed Confederate of America began seizing Federal military bases. A little over one month after Lincoln assumed, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Following the bombardment, Lincoln mobilized forces to suppress the rebellion and restored.
Lincoln, a moderate, navigated a contentious array of factions with friends and opponents from the Democratic Party and Republican Party. His allies, the Democrats, and the radical Republicans, demanded harsh treatment of the Confederates. He exploited mutual enmity of the factions, carefully distributing political patronage, and appealed to the American people. Democrats, called "Copperheads," despised Lincoln, and some irreconcilable pro-Confederate elements went so far as to plot. People came to see his greatest address at Gettysburg as a most influential statement of American national purpose. Lincoln closely supervised the strategy and tactics in the effort, including the selection of generals, and implemented a naval blockade of the trade. He suspended habeas corpus in Maryland and elsewhere, and averted British intervention by defusing the Trent Affair. He issued the proclamation, which declared free those "in rebellion." It also directed the Navy to "recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons" and to receive them "into the armed service." Lincoln pressured border to outlaw, and he promoted the thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished, except as punishment for a crime.
Lincoln managed his own successful re-election campaign. He sought to heal the torn nation through reconciliation. On April 14, 1865, just five days after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, he attended a play at theater of Ford in Washington, District of Columbia, with Mary Todd Lincoln, his wife, when Confederate sympathizer fatally shot him. People remember Lincoln as a martyr and a national hero for his time and for his efforts to preserve and abolish. Popular and scholarly polls often rank Lincoln as the greatest president in American history.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 22, 2021
Abraham Lincoln is a lawyer, and in every one of his speeches he provides commentary on both the legality and of the ethical underpinnings of a law. And in this tiny book of quotations, there's only the quotes that were popular, so I'm sure I'll get to analyzing better books about Lincoln, but there is plenty ethical explanation of legislative, and "doing the right thing" kind of language, to improve ones ability to explain law!
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October 26, 2025Favorite Quotes:
- "By general law, life and limb must be protected, yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life; but a life is never wisely given to save a limb..." (pg 24).
- "You must remember that some things legally right are not morally right" (pg 35).
- "If we do right God will be with us, and if God is with us we cannot fail" (pg 40).
- "Amid the greatest difficulties of my Administration, when I could not see any other resort, I would place my whole reliance in God, knowing that all would go well, and that he would decide for the right" (pg 41).
- "On the whole, my impression is that mercy bears richer fruits than any other attrtibute" (pg 62).
"In all my interviews with Mr. Lincoln I was impressed with his entire freedom from popular prejudice against the colored race. He was the first great man that I talked with in the United States freely, who in no single instance reminded me of the difference between himself and myself, of the difference of color...Then, too, there was another feeling that I had with reference to him, and that was that while I felt in his presence I was in the presence of a very great man, as great at the greatest, I felt as though I could go and put my hand on him if I wanted to, to put my hand on his shoulder. Of course I did not do it, but I felt that I could. I felt as though I was in the presence of a big brother, and that there was safety in his atmosphere" Frederick Douglas, pg 71).
- "I want in all cases to do right, and most particularly so in all cases with women" (pg 87).
- "I am very sore that if I do not go away from here a wiser man, I shall go away a better man, for having learned here what a very poor sort of a man I am" (pg 90).
- "I do not consider that I have ever accomplished anything without God; and if it is His will that I must die by the hand of an assassin, I must be resigned. I must do my duty as I see it, and leave the rest with God" (pg 91).
- "I felt like I once did when I met a woman riding horseback in the woods. As I stopped to let her pass, she also stopped, and, looking at me intently said: 'I do believe you are the ugliest man I ever saw." Said I, 'Madam, you are probably right, but I can't help it!' 'No!' said she, 'you can't help it, but you might stay at home!'"
- "By general law, life and limb must be protected, yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life; but a life is never wisely given to save a limb..." (pg 24).
- "You must remember that some things legally right are not morally right" (pg 35).
- "If we do right God will be with us, and if God is with us we cannot fail" (pg 40).
- "Amid the greatest difficulties of my Administration, when I could not see any other resort, I would place my whole reliance in God, knowing that all would go well, and that he would decide for the right" (pg 41).
- "On the whole, my impression is that mercy bears richer fruits than any other attrtibute" (pg 62).
"In all my interviews with Mr. Lincoln I was impressed with his entire freedom from popular prejudice against the colored race. He was the first great man that I talked with in the United States freely, who in no single instance reminded me of the difference between himself and myself, of the difference of color...Then, too, there was another feeling that I had with reference to him, and that was that while I felt in his presence I was in the presence of a very great man, as great at the greatest, I felt as though I could go and put my hand on him if I wanted to, to put my hand on his shoulder. Of course I did not do it, but I felt that I could. I felt as though I was in the presence of a big brother, and that there was safety in his atmosphere" Frederick Douglas, pg 71).
- "I want in all cases to do right, and most particularly so in all cases with women" (pg 87).
- "I am very sore that if I do not go away from here a wiser man, I shall go away a better man, for having learned here what a very poor sort of a man I am" (pg 90).
- "I do not consider that I have ever accomplished anything without God; and if it is His will that I must die by the hand of an assassin, I must be resigned. I must do my duty as I see it, and leave the rest with God" (pg 91).
- "I felt like I once did when I met a woman riding horseback in the woods. As I stopped to let her pass, she also stopped, and, looking at me intently said: 'I do believe you are the ugliest man I ever saw." Said I, 'Madam, you are probably right, but I can't help it!' 'No!' said she, 'you can't help it, but you might stay at home!'"
July 10, 2024
I'm normally not a history person. My father in law is, and gave me this book. I decided to give it a shot and I really enjoyed it! Very easy read! Learned a lot because I really never paid attention in history class in school regretfully. 3 stars because it's still not something I'd normally pick for myself.
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August 8, 2022good
January 1, 2023
I enjoyed reading Lincoln's words. Speech was much more eloquent in his day.
May 4, 2014
Lincoln's words, whether spoken on written, (or handed down and burnished orally) are treasures and well worth reading. If anything, Lincoln's sense of humor is under reported in the contemporary accounts.
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January 29, 2011Very wise
December 7, 2015
Short and Sweet with texts of Gettysburg Address, Emancipation Proclamation, Inaugural Addresses. Surprised that more quotes did not ring familiar
June 14, 2017
I would love to see this turned into a play, at the high school level, so that the youth coming through the system can learn from the great words from one of our greatest Presidents.
October 29, 2019
Simple and poignant.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews