Summary: Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, is often celebrated for his wisdom, integrity, and determination. His words, filled with inspiration, still resonate today, offering guidance and strength. This list features a collection of quotes attributed to Lincoln, encapsulated under different themes reflecting the various facets of his thoughts and wisdom. These quotes can serve as a source of motivation, reflection, and insight into his profound understanding of leadership, humanity, and perseverance. Explore these ten categories of quotes and let Lincoln's timeless wisdom inspire you.
Leadership Quotes
"Whatever you are, be a good one."
"I am a slow walker, but I never walk back."
"The best way to predict your future is to create it."
"I do the very best I know how—the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end."
"Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today."
"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."
"Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm."
"That some achieve great success is proof to all that others can achieve it as well."
"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true."
"People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be."
"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing."
"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."
Perseverance Quotes
"I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice."
"My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure."
"Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm."
"It's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
"You cannot fail unless you quit."
"Every man’s happiness is his own responsibility."
"Adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did."
"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time."
"I will prepare and someday my chance will come."
"Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle."
"I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day."
"Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way."
Freedom Quotes
"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."
"Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth."
"I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong."
"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."
"No man is good enough to govern another man without the other's consent."
"Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong."
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it."
"Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. It must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties."
"The ballot is stronger than the bullet."
"Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere."
"I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday."
"The will of God prevails."
Justice Quotes
"I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice."
"In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free."
"I have a congenital aversion to failure."
"Those who look for the bad in people will surely find it."
"Public opinion in this country is everything."
"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."
"The probable destiny of the United States is to carry liberty and civilization through the continent to the wider world."
"The struggle of today is not altogether for today – it is for a vast future also."
"I care not much for a man’s religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it."
"I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better."
"Important principles may, and must, be inflexible."
"Equal rights to all, special privileges to none."
Wisdom Quotes
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."
"I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday."
"I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being."
"If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?"
"My Best Friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read."
"I don’t know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be."
"Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself."
"Character is like a tree, and reputation like its shadow."
"Every man’s happiness is his own responsibility."
"A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have."
"You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was."
Equality Quotes
"These men ask for just the same thing, fairness, and fairness only. This, so far as in my power, they, and all others, shall have."
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy."
"Let all who believe in liberty and equality now speak."
"To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men."
"Those who write clearly have readers, those who write obscurely have commentators."
"My policy is to have no policy."
"If there is only one truth you shall hear in politics; it is that we should all be equal."
"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
"In a too prevalent distraction, the first duty is to establish unity."
"I never see a man whose opinion I value less, until I hear him speak."
"Let no man be frightened or misled by pretend equality."
War Quotes
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
"I shall do nothing in malice. What I deal with is too vast for malice."
"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"
"We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just—a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless."
"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."
"We can not have free government without elections, and if the rebellion could force us to forgo or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us."
"Human action can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed."
"The power of hope upon human exertion and happiness is wonderful."
"Let no feeling of discouragement prey upon you, and in the end, you are sure to succeed."
"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."
"To ease another’s heartache is to forget one’s own."
"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."
Peace Quotes
"The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend."
"Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can."
"I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends."
"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."
"In the end, it is not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
"I laugh because I must not cry. That is all. That is all."
"When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."
"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time."
"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues."
"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."
"Peace does not appear so distant as it did."
"That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well."
Humanity Quotes
"I care not for a man’s religion whose cat or dog are not the better for it."
"Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves."
"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax."
"Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them."
"The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend."
"Those who look for the bad in people will surely find it."
"Human nature will not change."
"Human action can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed."
"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis."
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
"I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free."
"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life."
Hope Quotes
"The better part of one's life consists of his friendships."
"I walk slowly, but I never walk backward."
"When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."
"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."
"That some achieve great success is proof to all that others can achieve it as well."
"I am a slow walker, but I never walk back."
"It often requires more courage to dare to do right than to fear to do wrong."
"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time."
"I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday."
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
"Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm."
"No man is good enough to govern another man without consent."
Final words
Abraham Lincoln’s words continue to inspire and guide people around the world. His quotes reflect a deep understanding of human nature, leadership, perseverance, and a constant pursuit of justice and equality. Whether you seek inspiration for leadership, strength to persevere, or wisdom on humanity and peace, Lincoln’s quotes offer timeless advice. His enduring legacy as one of America's greatest leaders is solidified not only by his actions but also by the profound and thoughtful words he left behind. As we navigate through our own challenges, let us remember his reflections and strive to follow the example he set with his unyielding commitment to doing what is right and just.
