Abraham Lincoln

"The Almighty has his own purposes."

"When the world weeps, choose to laugh."

"It is certain that the great teachers of religion have been anxious to apply their faith to the practical concerns of men."

"It may be my duty to my country to love the Union and to support the Constitution."

"The Lord prefers common-looking people. That is the reason he makes so many of them."

"Wisdom cannot be imparted. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to impart always sounds like foolishness to someone else."

"Emancipation is the expression of my conviction."

"Surely God would not have created such beautiful things to destroy and enjoy only in a cruel way."

"The assertion that 'all men are created equal' was of no practical use in effecting our separation from Great Britain."

"The mystic chords of memory will swell the chorus of the Union."

"The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present."

"Let reverence for the laws be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe."

"The ballot is the rightful and peaceful successor to the bullet; and that when ballots have fairly and constitutionally decided, there can be no successful appeal back to bullets."

"These are not mere official titles. A President is his country."

"My faith grows stronger that things will work out right, though many days of sorrow may yet be upon us."

"I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington."

"I have determined to rise or make my mark in the world or die in the attempt."

"Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."

"Kindly, madam, I have thought of everything you have thought of, as well as a number of things you have not."

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

"If I save the Union, I am savior of the country."

"My experience has taught me that a man may be dead and yet live. I hope it may be said of me that I have more than half of my days in the service of my country."

"Commit a crime and the earth is made of glass."

"Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man's nature – opposition to it is his love of justice. It may be a sin to hold a slave under our banner."

"But let the past as we have made it, instruct us for the future."

"I have often intreated my friends not to attribute importance to light and momentary sting of a political scratch."

"It is the man in the white speckled shirt who leads the orchestra with his baton, not the notes upon the page."

"I want to do right and I believe I am right in what I propose to do."

"I do not forget the helplessness of the negro."

"The people will save their government, if the government itself assays to save itself."