Read the famous words of wisdom from one of America’s greatest leaders, Abraham Lincoln. From his timeless lessons on leadership to his insightful commentary on life, powerful Abraham Lincoln quotes will inspire you, teach you, and challenge you in every way.
Best Abraham Lincoln Quotes
Character is like a tree and reputation is like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. Abraham Lincoln
Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. 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
The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep’s for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty. Plainly, the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of liberty. Abraham Lincoln
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. Abraham Lincoln
I believe this Government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. Abraham Lincoln
Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be. Abraham Lincoln
In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. Abraham Lincoln
No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar. Abraham Lincoln
The Lord spared the fitten and the rest he saw fitten to die. Abraham Lincoln
Human action can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed. Abraham Lincoln
From whence shall we expect the approach of danger? Shall some trans Atlantic military giant step the earth and crush us at a blow? Never. All the armies of Europe and Asia could not by force take a drink from the Ohio River or make a track on the Blue Ridge in the trial of a thousand years. No, if destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men we will live forever or die by suicide. Abraham Lincoln
Love is the chain to lock a child to its parent. Abraham Lincoln
The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, 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. Abraham Lincoln
There are no bad pictures; that’s just how your face looks sometimes. Abraham Lincoln
You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial difference between us. Abraham Lincoln
You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry. 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
Common looking people are the best in the world that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them. Abraham Lincoln
If there is a worse place than Hell, I am in it. Abraham Lincoln
He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help. Abraham Lincoln
Tact the ability to describe others as they see themselves. Abraham Lincoln
A farce or comedy is best played; a tragedy is best read at home. Abraham Lincoln
Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in. Abraham Lincoln
So let us pray, not for him but for yourselves and for all those whose job it is to wear those great big shoes he left this nation to fill. Abraham Lincoln
For people who like that kind of a book that is the kind of book they will like. Abraham Lincoln
I am rather inclined to silence, and whether that be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot. Abraham Lincoln
I want it said of me by those who knew me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow. Abraham Lincoln
I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better. Abraham Lincoln
In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. Abraham Lincoln
When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. Abraham Lincoln
We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last, best hope of earth. Abraham Lincoln
You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. Abraham Lincoln
The better part of one’s life consists of his friendships. Abraham Lincoln
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. Abraham Lincoln
All through life be sure you put your feet in the right place, and then stand firm. Abraham Lincoln
Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today. Abraham Lincoln
I was young once, and I am sure I was never ungenerously thrust back. Abraham Lincoln
Adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did. On the contrary, if you falter, and give up, you will lose the power of keeping any resolution, and will regret it all your life. Abraham Lincoln
I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. Abraham Lincoln
And in the end it is not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years. Abraham Lincoln
I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God. Abraham Lincoln
We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses. Abraham Lincoln
Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Abraham Lincoln
Every man’s happiness is his own responsibility. Abraham Lincoln
Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. Abraham Lincoln
If I am killed, I can die but once; but to live in constant dread of it, is to die over and over again. Abraham Lincoln
You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend 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 shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. Abraham Lincoln
I would rather be a little nobody, then to be an evil somebody. Abraham Lincoln
My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. Abraham Lincoln
I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day. Abraham Lincoln
Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government nor of dungeons to ourselves. Abraham Lincoln
Always bear in mind that your own resolution to success is more important than any other thing. Abraham Lincoln
The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. Abraham Lincoln
I’m a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let him down. Abraham Lincoln
I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice. Abraham Lincoln
Perhaps a man’s character is like a tree and his reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. Abraham Lincoln
I have a congenital aversion to failure. Abraham Lincoln
I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem. Abraham Lincoln
I happen temporarily to occupy this big White House temporarily. I am living witness that any one of your children may look to come here as my father’s child has. Abraham Lincoln
I shall not surrender this game leaving any available card unplayed. Abraham Lincoln
The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land. Abraham Lincoln
I believe it is an established maxim in morals that he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false, is guilty of falsehood. Abraham Lincoln
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 by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong. Abraham Lincoln
Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change public opinion, can change the government, practically just so much. Abraham Lincoln
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. Abraham Lincoln
Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties. Abraham Lincoln
Human nature will not change. In any future great national trial, compared with the men of this, we shall have as weak and as strong, as silly and as wise, as bad and as good. Abraham Lincoln
No one who has sworn to support the Constitution can conscientiously vote for what he understands to be an unconstitutional measure, however expedient he may think it; but one may and ought to vote against a measure which he deems constitutional, if, at the same time, he deems it inexpedient. Abraham Lincoln
What is to be, will be, and no prayers of ours can arrest the decree. Abraham Lincoln
A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it does of necessity fly to anarchy or to despotism. Abraham Lincoln
