The quotations of

Abraham Lincoln

President of the United States from 1861 to 1865

1809–1865

69 quotes, most often on Slavery, America and War & Peace. Part of the U.S. Presidents collection.

Must a government of necessity be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?
Fourth of July Address to Congress (1861)
- Government
- Liberty
The purposes of the Almighty are perfect, and must prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to accurately perceive them in advance.
Letter to Eliza Gurney (4 September 1864); quoted in Roy P. Basler, ed., The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, vol. 7 (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1953), p. 535
- Faith
- God
You say you are conservative — eminently conservative — while we are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the sort. What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?
The Cooper Union Address (1860)
- Change
- Politics
The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.
Lincoln’s Second Annual Message to Congress (1862)
- Change
- Thinking
We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing.
Lecture on Liberty: An Address in Baltimore, Maryland (18 April 1864)
- Liberty
You think slavery is right and should be extended; while we think slavery is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial difference between us.
Letter to Alexander H. Stephens (1860)
- Slavery
No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation.
Lincoln’s Second Annual Message to Congress (1862)
- History
- Honor
Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, every where. Destroy this spirit, and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors.
Speech at Edwardsville, Illinois (11 September 1858)
- Liberty
As a nation, we began by declaring that “all men are created equal.” We now practically read it “all men are created equal, except negroes.” When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read “all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and catholics.”
Letter to Joshua F. Speed (24 August 1855)
Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.
Reply to the New York Workingmen’s Democratic Republican Association (21 March 1864); Collected Works, Vol. 7, pp. 259-260
- Economics
- Work
I don’t believe in a law to prevent a man from getting rich; it would do more harm than good.
Speech at New Haven, Connecticut (6 March 1860)
- Laws
- Money
Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address (1861)
- Emotion
- Friendship
Let us discard all this quibbling about this man and the other man, this race and that race and the other race being inferior and therefore they must be placed in an inferior position. Let us discard all these things, and unite as one people throughout this land, until we shall once more stand up declaring that all men are created equal.
Speech at Chicago, Illinois (10 July 1858)
- America
- Race
When I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.
Statement to an Indiana Regiment passing through Washington (17 March 1865)
- Clever Jabs
- Slavery
We have, as all will agree, a free Government, where every man has a right to be equal with every other man.
Speech to the 164th Ohio Regiment, Washington, D.C. (18 August 1864)
- Freedom
- Government

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