Abraham Lincoln’s quotes are a powerful reflection of his wisdom, integrity, and vision. His words on leadership, perseverance, equality, and justice continue to inspire people worldwide.
Lincoln’s quotes emphasize personal growth, the importance of unity, and the strength of character.
With a deep understanding of human nature, his timeless wisdom challenges us to live authentically, embrace responsibility, and work towards a better, more just society.
“And in the end, it is not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.”
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
“The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.”
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
“I am a slow walker, but I never walk backward.”
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.”
“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”
“If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business.”
“I do the very best I know how—the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end.”
“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.”
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
“The ballot is stronger than the bullet.”
“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”
“That some are rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.”
“No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.”
“When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion.”
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
“Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose—and you allow him to commence a war whenever he can say he fears an invasion.”
“I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.”
“If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it.”
“Whatever you are, be a good one.”
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.”
“Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.”
“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.”
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.”
“Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.”
“It is a pleasure to be able to quote lines to people that they haven’t heard two million times.”
“Public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed.”
“How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”
“It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.”
“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.”
“Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can.”
“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
“I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man.”
“Come what may, I will keep my faith with friend and foe.”
“Let not him who is homeless pull down the house of another, but let him labor diligently to build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.”
“Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.”
“I desire to conduct the affairs of this administration in such a way that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.”
“The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”
“Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.”
“And having thus chosen our course, without guile, and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear, and with manly hearts.”
“If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem.”
“A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have.”
“The people’s government, made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people.”
“Avoid popularity; it has many snares and no real benefit.”
“He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.”
“Upon the subject of education, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people may be engaged in.”
“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.”
“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.”
“It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: ‘And this too, shall pass away.’”
“There are no accidents in my philosophy. Every effect must have its cause.”
“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.”
“I will prepare and some day my chance will come.”
“I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.”
“This too shall pass away.”
“If you are resolutely determined to make a lawyer of yourself, the thing is more than half done already.”
“Nations do not die from invasion; they die from internal rottenness.”
“The Lord prefers common-looking people. That is the reason he makes so many of them.”
“The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly.”
“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”
“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.”
“I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.”
“When you have got an elephant by the hind leg, and he is trying to run away, it’s best to let him run.”
“Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?”
“My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.”
“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.”
“Better to be a young man of conviction than an old man of conformity.”
“A capacity and taste for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others.”
“The legitimate object of government is to do for the people what needs to be done, but which they cannot, by individual effort, do at all, or do so well, for themselves.”
“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.”
“Truth is the best vindication against slander.”
“Broken eggs cannot be mended.”
“If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?”
“It is a sin to be silent when it is your duty to protest.”
“He who trusts to luck, sooner or later will be unlucky.”
“The better part of one’s life consists of his friendships.”
“The struggle of today is not altogether for today—it is for a vast future also.”
“You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence.”
“It is my desire to promote all religious freedom.”
“If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”
“If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won’t amount to anything.”
“The severest justice may not always be the best policy.”
“The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself in every way he can, never suspecting that anybody wishes to hinder him.”
“All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”
“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis.”
“Marriage is neither heaven nor hell, it is simply purgatory.”
“Tell the truth and you won’t have so much to remember.”
“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed.”
“We cannot escape history.”
“I have an irrepressible desire to live till I can be assured that the world is a little better for my having lived in it.”
“The highest art is the art of saving souls.”
“The man who is too old to learn is probably always old.”
“I laugh because I must not cry, that is all, that is all.”
“Great men are ordinary men with extraordinary determination.”
“You must remember that some things legally right are not morally right.”
“In times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and eternity.”
“I desire to see the time when education, and not wealth, shall be the standard of social distinction.”
“Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.”
“My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”
“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” (A repeat for emphasis, as it’s a popular one!)
“The people—the people—are the rightful masters of both Congresses, and courts—not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert it.”
“I shall not change my course, but continue to prosecute the war.”
“A day spent helping no one but yourself is a day wasted.”
“It is the duty of the people to render to the government that service, which the government cannot do without.”
“I appeal to you again to constantly bear in mind that with yourselves, and not with me, rests the responsibility of perpetuating the American Union.”
“Let us strive to be true, and let us not be afraid of the consequences.”
“If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem.” (A repeat for emphasis, as it’s a strong principle!)
“We must rise with the occasion.”
“The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself in every way he can.”
“No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.”
Abraham Lincoln’s wisdom offers timeless insights on leadership, responsibility, and personal growth. His words encourage us to create our own future, embrace challenges, and value the essence of life over mere existence. His legacy reminds us that true success lies in meaningful actions and relationships.
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