The Lincolns Quotes

“Time does not soften my grief, nor can I ever be reconciled to my loss until the grave closes over the remembrance and I am again with him.

—Mary Lincoln”
― Candace Fleming, The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary

“Here, where the lonely hooting owl
Sends forth his midnight moans,
Fierce wolves shall o'er my carcase growl,
Or buzzards pick my bones.

No fellow-man shall learn my fate,
Or where my ashes lie;
Unless by beasts drawn round their bait,
Or by the ravens' cry.

Yes! I've resolved the deed to do,
And this the place to do it:
This heart I'll rush a dagger through,
Though I in hell should rue it!

Hell! What is hell to one like me
Who pleasures never knew;
By friends consigned to misery,
By hope deserted too?

To ease me of this power to think,
That through my bosom raves,
I'll headlong leap from hell's high brink,
And wallow in its waves.

Though devils yell, and burning chains
May waken long regret;
Their frightful screams, and piercing pains,
Will help me to forget.

Yes! I'm prepared, through endless night,
To take that fiery berth!
Think not with tales of hell to fright
Me, who am damn'd on earth!

Sweet steel! come forth from your sheath,
And glist'ning, speak your powers;
Rip up the organs of my breath,
And draw my blood in showers!

I strike! It quivers in that heart
Which drives me to this end;
I draw and kiss the bloody dart,
My last—my only friend!

—Poem attributed to Abraham Lincoln”
― Candace Fleming, The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary

“I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours

—Abraham Lincoln”
― Candace Fleming, The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds...to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

—Abraham Lincoln”
― Candace Fleming, The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary

“I live in fear that the deep waters through which I've passed will overwhelm me.

—Mary Lincoln”
― Candace Fleming, The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary

“In this troublesome world we are never quite satisfied. When you were here, I thought you hindered me some in attending to business; but now, having nothing but business—no variety—it has grown exceedingly tasteless to me...I hate to stay in this old room by myself.

—Abraham Lincoln”
― Candace Fleming, The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary

“Imagine what joy it would bring to see his beauty and brilliance shine out more clearly each day. After all, the important thing is the diamond itself, clear and flawless under its film.

—Mary Lincoln”
― Candace Fleming, The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary