“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”

“Let [the Constitution] be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges, let it be written in primers, in spelling books and in almanacs, let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation.”

“Force is all conquering, but it's victories are short lived.”

“The ballot is stronger than the bullet.”

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” 

“It will not do to investigate the subject of religion too closely, as it is apt to lead to infidelity.”

“To remain as I am is impossible; I must die or be better, it appears to me.”

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under a just God cannot retain it.”

“Rules of living Don't worry, eat three square meals a day,say your prayers, be courteous to your creditors, keep your digestion good,steer clear of biliousness,exercise, go slow and go easy. May be there are other things that your special case requires to make you happy, but my friend, these, i reckon, will give you a good life.”

“I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.”

“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

“If Friendship is your weakest point, you are the strongest person in the world.”

“What is to be, will be, and no prayers of ours can arrest the decree.

“Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow. The shadow is what we think it is and the tree is the real thing.”

“When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion.”