100+ Abraham Lincoln Quotes on Leadership: Timeless Wisdom for Today's Leaders

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

"Character is like a tree and reputation like its 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."

"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt."

"Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can."

"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."

"Integrity is the backbone of our character."

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing."

"The best way to predict the future is to create it."

"Do nothing against conscience in the name of expediency."

"Let no feeling of resentment or revenge occupy your heart."

"Truth is generally the best vindication against slander."

"My policy is to have no policy."

"I move slowly, but I never retreat."

"I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me."

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present."

"We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was initiated with the avowed object of enforcing obedience to laws."

"When I do well, I feel well; when I do good, I feel good."

"It is better to be divided into departments with responsibility than to concentrate everything."

"The ballot is stronger than the bullet."

"In great straits and conflicts, people cry for a strong hand."

"I shall do all that may be in my power to promote a peaceful settlement."

"The odds are overwhelming against me, but I have got to try."

"I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go."

"Whatever you are, be a good one."

"Those who look for the bad in people will surely find it."

"I am a slow walker, but I never walk back."

"The world has never had a good definition of the word 'liberty'."

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

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

"Let us have faith that right makes might."

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

"We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it."

"The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next."

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

"I am not ashamed to admit that I am ignorant of what I do not know."

"I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday."

"I am not concerned that I am not understood; I am concerned that I may not understand others."

"I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end 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."

"I laugh because I must not cry."

"I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice."

"I am not prepared to say that I would not go to war again if the necessity arose."

"I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence."

"I have never willingly planted a thorn in any man's bosom."

"I am grateful to many people for their kindness, but especially to those who have trusted me."

"I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go."

"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true."

"I have always thought that all men should be free."

"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently."

"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis."

"The best way out is always through."

"Towering genius disdains a beaten path."

"I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome."

"The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just."

"We must not be enemies."

"Let us strive on to finish the work we are in."

"With malice toward none, with charity for all."

"Perseverance, in spite of all obstacles, is what matters."

"Press on: nothing in the world can take the place of persistence."

"I have always thought that all men should be free."

"To ease another's sorrow is to forget one's own."

"I feel deeply anxious that the inevitable conflict between slavery and freedom should be postponed."

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

"I have never seen the man who could carry a heavy burden of injustice without staggering."

"I have always thought that the institutions of free government are worth preserving."

"I desire to see justice done equally to all."

"Let us judge not, that we be not judged."

"I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence."

"I have always been glad to pay taxes to support schools, though I never attended one."

"I have never willingly caused anyone pain."

"I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution."

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."

"No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar."

"I have always thought that it better to tell the truth than to lie."

"You may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time."

"I have never discovered any disposition in myself to deceive others."

"I am resolved to be honest, however this may cost me."

"If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem."

"I have never willingly taken what belongs to another."

"Truth is easier to defend than falsehood."

"I have never believed in doing something wrong to get something right."

"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others."

"I have always thought that honesty is the best policy."

"I have always thought that it was better to do right, even if the world should come to an end."

"I have never shrunk from doing my duty, however painful it might be."

"I am not afraid to die. I have faced death too often to fear it."

"Let us have faith that right makes might."

"I have always believed that tyranny is unjust and oppressive."

"I have never hesitated to take responsibility when it was necessary."

"I have never believed that silence is golden when injustice is spoken."

"I would rather be assassinated than live as a tyrant."

"I have always stood for the rights of the common man."

"I have never feared to speak the truth, regardless of consequences."

"I have never believed in compromising my principles for popularity."

"I have always believed that liberty is worth fighting for."

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

"We are not enemies, but friends."

"With malice toward none, with charity for all."

"Let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds."

"Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God."

"The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

"We must not be enemies."

"Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray."

"He has let us apart for a little while, that we may heal the wounds of the past."

"Let us resolve that our government shall have a new birth of freedom."

"We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain."

"Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

"My primary concern is not to be re-elected, but to do right."

"I shall be satisfied if my work contributes to the well-being of the nation."

"I have always believed that public service is a sacred trust."

"I leave you, hoping that your children will never know a day when they are not free."

"I wish to live in the light of peace and harmony."

"I have always tried to do my duty to the country."

"I ask nothing for myself but what I ask for all."

"I have always believed that service to others is the highest calling."

"I hope to leave behind a legacy of unity and justice."

"I do not expect to be remembered, but I hope to have made a difference."

"I have lived for the people, and I would die for them if necessary."

"Let the future judge of us, both in our actions and in our intentions."