“Fellow-citizens, we can not escape history. We of this Congress and this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. 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.”
                            
                             ―
                                Abraham Lincoln
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
             
                
                
                
            
         
                                
                            
                                
“I will not say that we may not sooner or later be compelled to meet force by force; but the time has not yet come, and if we are true to ourselves, may never come. Do not mistake that the ballot is stronger than the bullet. Therefore let the legions of slavery use bullets; but let us wait patiently till November, and fire ballots at them in return; and by that peaceful policy, I believe we shall ultimately win.”
                            
                             ―
                                Abraham Lincoln
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
             
                
                
                
            
         
                                
                            
                                
“I would just as soon die now, but I haven't done anything yet to be remembered by”
                            
                             ―
                                Abraham Lincoln
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
             
                
                
                
            
         
                                
                                
                            
                                
“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.”
                            
                             ―
                                Abraham Lincoln
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
             
                
                
                
            
         
                                
                            
                                
“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
                            
                             ―
                                Abraham Lincoln
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
             
                
                
                
            
         
                                
                                
                            
                                
“You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.”
                            
                             ―
                                Abraham Lincoln
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
             
                
                
                
            
         
                                
                            
                                
“Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
                            
                             ―
                                Abraham Lincoln
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
             
                
                
                
            
         
                                
                            
                                
“Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the Revolution, never to violate in the least particular, the laws of the country; and never to tolerate their violation by others.”
                            
                             ―
                                Abraham Lincoln
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
             
                
                
                
            
         
                                
                            
                                
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone 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
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
             
                
                
                
            
         
                                
                            
                                
“If this country is ever demoralized, it will come from trying to live without work.”
                            
                             ―
                                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
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
             
                
                
                
            
         
                                
                            
                                
“If Abraham Lincoln were alive now, he'd roll over in his grave.”
                            
                             ―
                                Abraham Lincoln
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
             
                
                
                
            
         
                                
                            
                                
“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.”
                            
                             ―
                                Abraham Lincoln