Abraham Lincoln was an American statesman and lawyer who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the American Civil War, the country’s greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. He succeeded in preserving the Union, abolishing slavery, bolstering the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy. These Abraham Lincoln quotes will motivate you in life to achieve success.
Best Abraham Lincoln Quotes
- “Nations do not die from invasion; they die from internal rottenness.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “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.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country… corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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“The most reliable way to predict the future is to create it.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Sir, 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.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Be with a leader when he is right, stay with him when he is still right, but leave him when he is wrong.” ~ Abraham Lincoln , Abraham Lincoln quotes on leadership
- “You must remember that some things legally right are not morally right.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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“It is a sin to be silent when it is your duty to protest.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Behind the cloud the sun is still shining.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country… corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Sir, 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.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Democracy is “government of, by and for the people”. ~ Abraham Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln Quotes on democracy
- “You must remember that some things legally right are not morally right.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Money will cease to be master and become the servant of humanity. Democracy will rise superior to the money power.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “You can’t make a weak man strong by making a strong man weak” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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“Behind the cloud, the sun is still shining.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving Grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Let the people know the truth and the country is safe.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “If this country is ever demoralized, it will come from trying to live without work.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would do that. I have here stated my purpose according to my official duty, and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men, everywhere, could be free.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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“A nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “You cannot have the right to do what is wrong!” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “History is not history unless it is the truth.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “If you understand what you’re doing, you’re not learning anything.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “When arguing with a fool, make sure the opponent isn’t doing the exact same thing.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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“The ballot is stronger than the bullet.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Teach the children so it will not be necessary to teach the adults.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Violence begins where knowledge ends.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Kindness is the only service that will stand the storm of life and not wash out.” ~ Abraham Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln quotes on life and kindness
- “Study the Constitution. Let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislatures, and enforced in courts of justice.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Every man’s happiness is his own responsibility.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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“What is conservatism? Is it not the adherence to the old and tried against the new and untried?” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “We can not have free government without elections, and if the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “In regards to this great Book [the Bible], I have but to say it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this Book. But for it, we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man’s welfare, here and hereafter, are found portrayed in it.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “No man is good enough to govern another man without the other’s consent.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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“He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. -Speech at Clinton, Illinois, September 8, 1854.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “I am an optimist because I don’t see the point in being anything else.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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“That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “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.” How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “There is no greater injustice than to wring your profits from the sweat of another man’s brow.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “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 will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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“A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Nothing in this world is impossible to a willing heart.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Labor is prior to and independent of, the capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Marriage is neither heaven nor hell, it is simply purgatory.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Those who look for the bad in people will surely find it.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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“Every man is born an original, but sadly, most men die copies.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “If the American people could learn what I know of the fierce hatred of the priests of Rome against our institutions, our schools, our most sacred rights, and our so dearly bought liberties, they would drive them out as traitors.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “The written word may be man’s greatest invention. It allows us to converse with the dead, the absent, and the unborn.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “Why don’t I drink from a straw? Because straws are for suckers.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
- “If I am killed, I can die by once; but to live in constant dread of it, is to die over and over again.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
