Abraham Lincoln

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion.

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

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.

My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.

The ballot is stronger than the bullet.

Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser—in fees, expenses, and waste of time.

Common sense is the most uncommon sense.

No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.

I have stepped out upon this platform that I may see you and that you may see me, and in the arrangement, I am more than satisfied.

To believe in the things you can see and touch is no belief at all; but to believe in the unseen is a triumph and a blessing.

The strongest bond of human sympathy, outside of the family relation, should be one uniting all working people, of all nations, and tongues, and kindreds.

It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels he is worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal.

I have got a system of my own. If I have a piece of work to do, I will do it.

What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?