A. Lincoln Quotes

“Lincoln’s genius was his ability to draw upon the talents of others, meld together diverse personalities who often did not trust one another, and then listen to their advice, recognizing that it was sometimes wiser than his own.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“Lincoln’s political grammar always gravitated to the future tense.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“The shepherd drives the wolf19 from the sheep’s throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as a liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty, especially if the sheep was a black one.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“American Presbyterians strove to balance a high view of God with a low view of humanity.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“The dogmas of the quiet past,76 are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new,77 so we must think anew, and act anew.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“The Amboy Times captured the distinctiveness of Lincoln’s maturing political speaking, observing, “His language is pure11 and respectful, he attacks no man’s character or motives, but fights with arguments.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“At the heart of his lecture was a definition of his understanding of the calling of a lawyer. “As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man.” Here Lincoln offered his most practical advice: “Discourage litigation.” Life in the frontier states was marked by disputes. Rural and townsfolk were ready to “go to law” over the least aggravation. Lincoln’s counsel: “Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often the real loser—in fees, expenses, and waste of time.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“Abraham’s first teacher24 in Indiana was Andrew Crawford. In addition to teaching spelling and grammar, he instructed the children in courtesy and manners, including the art of introducing and receiving guests. A student would leave the schoolhouse, and as he or she reentered another student would introduce the guest to all the children in the room.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“For once, McClellan was not exaggerating the scope of the battle.63 Almost 6,500 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed in one day at Antietam. This staggering number was four times the number that would be killed in the landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944. The total for this one day was more than the deaths in all of the other wars of the nineteenth century—the War of 1812, the Indian wars, the Mexican War, and the Spanish-American War—combined.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“Almost 6,500 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed in one day at Antietam. This staggering number was four times the number that would be killed in the landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944. The total for this one day was more than the deaths in all of the other wars of the nineteenth century—the War of 1812, the Indian wars, the Mexican War, and the Spanish-American War—combined.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“The struggle of today, is not altogether for today—it is for a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence, all the more firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great task which events have devolved upon us.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“Don’t kneel to me. That is not right. You must kneel to God only, and thank Him for the liberty you will enjoy hereafter.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“He acquired the nickname “Old Brains,”6 not for his prowess as a military theorist, but for his high forehead and bulging eyes.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“In two days, Lincoln wrote two completely different letters to the commanders who had won victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. The letters reflected his quite different views of the two generals. Meade had fought well in a defensive posture in a battle he had not sought, but had failed to follow up that victory.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“sent one of his divisions led by Major General Henry Heth down the Chambersburg Pike toward Gettysburg, where information said there was a supply of shoes.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“He followed events in Tennessee and Kentucky, where guerrilla attacks by Confederate generals Nathan Bedford Forrest and John Hunt Morgan behind Union lines dispelled any lingering notions that widespread Unionist sentiment remained in the South.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“he looked like some hoosier just starting for home from California, with store clothes and a biled shirt on.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“Look, men, there is Jackson34 standing like a stone wall.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“Scott’s “Anaconda Plan” failed to consider what the Southern troops would be doing while the Northern troops took several months to travel to and sail down the Mississippi. Lincoln knew that the public would never have the patience for Scott’s plan. In listening to his daily visitors, he came to understand that his Northern audience needed to see some results if he and the Union would retain their support.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“Photographer Alexander Hesler of Chicago traveled to Springfield to take four photographs of Lincoln on June 3, 1860. Lincoln particularly liked one photograph that captured his facial expression at the crowning moment of his maturity. Lincoln commented, “That looks better15 and expresses me better than any I have ever seen.” Mary and some others, however, did not like it. Lincoln believed “their objection arises from the disordered condition of the hair.” Lincoln concluded, “My judgment is worth nothing in these matters.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“Proverbs 16:9: “A man’s heart deviseth his way; but the Lord directs his steps.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. Consequently he who moulds sentiment, goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“Though he recognized that there were many qualities of a successful lawyer, he believed this one virtue trumped all others. “However able and faithful he may be in other respects, people are slow to bring him business if he cannot make a speech.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“He believed “the leading rule”21 for any lawyer was “diligence.” Lincoln counseled, “Leave nothing for to-morrow which can be done today.… Whatever piece of business you have in hand, before stopping, do all the labor pertaining to it which can then be done.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“Lincoln learned self-discipline and the art of case preparation from Logan, who had served previously as a circuit judge and had taught Lincoln to see cases from every possible point of view.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“Charles Dickens, visiting the United States five years earlier, had described Washington as “the City of Magnificent Intentions,”12 with “spacious avenues, that begin in nothing, and lead nowhere; streets, mile-long, that only want houses, roads, and inhabitants; public buildings that need but a public to be complete.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“Fellow Citizens, I presume22 you all know who I am. I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been solicited by my friends to become a candidate for the Legislature. My politics are short and sweet, like the old woman’s dance. I am in favor of a national bank. I am in favor of the internal improvement system and a high protection tariff. These are my sentiments and political principles. If elected I shall be thankful; if not it will be all the same.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln

“The fighting over, Lincoln resumed his place, and gave one of his shortest political speeches. Fellow Citizens, I presume22 you all know who I am. I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been solicited by my friends to become a candidate for the Legislature. My politics are short and sweet, like the old woman’s dance. I am in favor of a national bank. I am in favor of the internal improvement system and a high protection tariff. These are my sentiments and political principles. If elected I shall be thankful; if not it will be all the same.”
― Ronald C. White Jr., A. Lincoln