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Lincoln: A Book of Quotations
"All I have learned, I learned from books," declared Abraham Lincoln — and this book offers ample learning from the sixteenth president's wise and often witty remarks. Drawn from speeches, letters, and other sources, these thoughts and opinions range from considerations of human nature and spirituality to the burdens and privileges of the presidency along with many other topics of enduring interest.
Selections include comments on morality ("It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.") and the pursuit of happiness ("Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.") as well as friendship ("I'm a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn't have the heart to let him down."), human frailty ("It's not me who can’t keep a secret. It's the people I tell that can't."), and other thought-provoking subjects.
Selections include comments on morality ("It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.") and the pursuit of happiness ("Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.") as well as friendship ("I'm a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn't have the heart to let him down."), human frailty ("It's not me who can’t keep a secret. It's the people I tell that can't."), and other thought-provoking subjects.
176 pages, Paperback
Published August 17, 2016
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About the author
Abraham Lincoln
2,422 books1,994 followersAbraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States from 1861 and led the country during the Civil War.
Lincoln, a moderate, navigated a contentious array of factions with friends and opponents from the Democratic Party and Republican Party. He exploited mutual enmity of the factions, carefully distributing political patronage, and appealed to the American people.
Lincoln closely supervised the strategy and tactics in the war effort, including the selection of generals, and implemented a naval blockade of the trade. He suspended habeas corpus in Maryland and elsewhere, and averted British intervention by defusing the Trent Affair. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared free all enslaved persons in states "in rebellion against the United States." It also directed the Navy to "recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons" and to receive them "into the armed service." Lincoln promoted the thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery, except as punishment for a crime.
Lincoln managed his own successful re-election campaign and sought to heal the war-torn nation through reconciliation. On April 14, 1865, just five days after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, he attended a play at theater of Ford in Washington, District of Columbia, with Mary Todd Lincoln, his wife, when Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Boothe fatally assassinated him.
Lincoln is remembered as a martyr and a national hero for for his efforts to preserve the union and abolish slavery. Popular and scholarly polls often rank Lincoln as the greatest president in American history.
Lincoln, a moderate, navigated a contentious array of factions with friends and opponents from the Democratic Party and Republican Party. He exploited mutual enmity of the factions, carefully distributing political patronage, and appealed to the American people.
Lincoln closely supervised the strategy and tactics in the war effort, including the selection of generals, and implemented a naval blockade of the trade. He suspended habeas corpus in Maryland and elsewhere, and averted British intervention by defusing the Trent Affair. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared free all enslaved persons in states "in rebellion against the United States." It also directed the Navy to "recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons" and to receive them "into the armed service." Lincoln promoted the thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery, except as punishment for a crime.
Lincoln managed his own successful re-election campaign and sought to heal the war-torn nation through reconciliation. On April 14, 1865, just five days after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, he attended a play at theater of Ford in Washington, District of Columbia, with Mary Todd Lincoln, his wife, when Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Boothe fatally assassinated him.
Lincoln is remembered as a martyr and a national hero for for his efforts to preserve the union and abolish slavery. Popular and scholarly polls often rank Lincoln as the greatest president in American history.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 28, 2019
I received this book free from the publisher through NetGalley, and I honestly did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. It was a quick read, and I found it surprisingly informative. There are quotes and excerpts from every possible source, and they range from personal to political. Many of them seemed quite informal and considering his background and what I have pieced together, I'm guessing he wasn't a particularly formal man. One of the funniest excerpts, and my personal favorite, is from a letter to a little girl. She had apparently written to him and suggested he grow a beard to which he responds by essentially telling her people might think it's silly. However he obviously did grow that beard and looked very distinguished with it!
He made a lot of truly insightful observations, which he articulated in a very uplifting and inspiring way. I can understand why he was both loved and hated. Around half the quotes in this book are related to the slavery issue, but to my surprise he was not only against the enslavement of his fellow man but advocated equal rights as well. I had no idea any white person in the United States living in those times was even capable of viewing any black person as an equal. He made so many true and eloquent arguments against slavery and for equal rights, that my mind is boggled. Though there were many more persuasive and articulate quotes, the one which appealed to me most was a simple argument where he points out one of the many faults in the logic of slavery. If a person with lighter skin has the right to enslave a person with darker skin, then that person will be the slave of the first man he meets with lighter skin than his own, and I am of course paraphrasing. His ideals were leagues above other men of his day.
Until I read this book, I had never given much thought to what sort of man Abraham Lincoln really was. Like nearly everyone else, I have a tendency to automatically dismiss any politician as being a liar no matter how much good they do. I have accepted the idea that the only people who have power, are bad people, and I must choose which I think are the lesser of those evils. I now find myself fostering a bit of hope for some future leader who will make great changes for our country. I also wonder what it might have been like to know Abraham Lincoln; what it might have been like to engage him in some rousing philosophical conversation. What an interesting and challenging friend he must have been. The cleverness, wit, intelligence, humor, and progressive thought he displays in these quotes is nothing short of phenomenal; the words of a truly Great Man. emnoir.wordpress.com
He made a lot of truly insightful observations, which he articulated in a very uplifting and inspiring way. I can understand why he was both loved and hated. Around half the quotes in this book are related to the slavery issue, but to my surprise he was not only against the enslavement of his fellow man but advocated equal rights as well. I had no idea any white person in the United States living in those times was even capable of viewing any black person as an equal. He made so many true and eloquent arguments against slavery and for equal rights, that my mind is boggled. Though there were many more persuasive and articulate quotes, the one which appealed to me most was a simple argument where he points out one of the many faults in the logic of slavery. If a person with lighter skin has the right to enslave a person with darker skin, then that person will be the slave of the first man he meets with lighter skin than his own, and I am of course paraphrasing. His ideals were leagues above other men of his day.
Until I read this book, I had never given much thought to what sort of man Abraham Lincoln really was. Like nearly everyone else, I have a tendency to automatically dismiss any politician as being a liar no matter how much good they do. I have accepted the idea that the only people who have power, are bad people, and I must choose which I think are the lesser of those evils. I now find myself fostering a bit of hope for some future leader who will make great changes for our country. I also wonder what it might have been like to know Abraham Lincoln; what it might have been like to engage him in some rousing philosophical conversation. What an interesting and challenging friend he must have been. The cleverness, wit, intelligence, humor, and progressive thought he displays in these quotes is nothing short of phenomenal; the words of a truly Great Man. emnoir.wordpress.com
October 20, 2016
I received this book from Netgalley and Dover Publications for a fair and honest review.
Each of the stories in this book is short and to the point and usually very funny. The book focuses more on Lincolns political and social wisdom, but I was drawn more to Lincolns wry sense of humor, justice and empathy for his fellow humans. Lincoln was an imperfect man, suffering from severe depression, widely hated and almost isolated in his cause but he had an almost obsessive urge to do the right thing and not the easy thing. This is the reason I admire Lincoln, he grieved for those who lost their lives fighting on both sides of the civil war, saw no difference if you were a confederate or union supporter, as well as his own son and yet had the moral and honesty to continue on for four years, because it was the right thing to do. Reading this work will definitely provide the reader with a good idea of just how bright he was, it also will have you wishing that today's politicians were as upstanding as he was.
I only wish the book were longer.
Each of the stories in this book is short and to the point and usually very funny. The book focuses more on Lincolns political and social wisdom, but I was drawn more to Lincolns wry sense of humor, justice and empathy for his fellow humans. Lincoln was an imperfect man, suffering from severe depression, widely hated and almost isolated in his cause but he had an almost obsessive urge to do the right thing and not the easy thing. This is the reason I admire Lincoln, he grieved for those who lost their lives fighting on both sides of the civil war, saw no difference if you were a confederate or union supporter, as well as his own son and yet had the moral and honesty to continue on for four years, because it was the right thing to do. Reading this work will definitely provide the reader with a good idea of just how bright he was, it also will have you wishing that today's politicians were as upstanding as he was.
I only wish the book were longer.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews