Quotessence
Home / Authors / Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln Quotes

16th U.S. President

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenIfsCivil WarPeopleWarGovernmentMaySlaveryShouldLibertyThinkingWorldSlaveReligiousGivingInspirationalLaborLawKnowsLawyer

Famous Abraham Lincoln Quotes

“In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party.”

DifferentWarPurposePartySlaveryCivil WarDivine Will
Book:The Modern Library Civil War Bookshelf 5-Book Bundle: Personal Memoirs, Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Red Badge of Courage, Jefferson Davis: The Essential Writings, The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln
Create image

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”

FreedomInterestingLibertyDeserveIndependenceSlaverySlaveDenyCivil WarPatrioticFourth4th Of JulyJulyFreedom And LibertyDeservingFreedom LibertyCivil LibertiesFreedom Of ChoiceAbolitionIndependence DayBe A SlaveTrue FreedomFireworksHuman FreedomAmerican PatrioticAmerican PatriotismAmerican LibertyIndependence Day PatrioticJuly 4th 1776Price Of FreedomUsa PatrioticIndependence And FreedomGreat FreedomHappy Independence Day UsaSpiritual Freedom4th Of July InspirationalSlavery In AmericaHappy Independence DayFourth Of July Inspirational4th Of July WishesAbolition Of SlaveryUs Independence DayMental SlaveryHappy 4th Of JulyFreedom And HappinessFunny 4th Of JulyAmerican Independence DaySlave LaborSlavery FreedomDenying GodPro SlaveryDenying YourselfUsa Freedom
Author:Abraham Lincoln
Create image

“Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”

LifeFeelsHumorStrongPresidentFreedomRightsAngerSocial JusticeSlaverySlaveHuman RightsArguingImpulsePresidentialCivil WarPatrioticExpress YourselfAmerican Civil WarAbolitionBe A SlaveRights And FreedomsAmerican PresidentUs PresidentAbolitionistSlave TradeGreat PresidentsHuman Rights DayAmerican SlaverySlavery In AmericaStates RightsUs PresidentialAbolition Of SlaverySlave LaborSlavery FreedomPersonal RightsEconomic Slavery
Author:Abraham Lincoln
Create image

“A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.”

BelieveGovernmentFallHouseBeliefI BelieveHalfOne ThingSlaveryUnionsSlaveEndureCeaseCivil WarDividedAmerican Civil WarDividingBe A SlaveAmerican SlaverySlavery In AmericaStates RightsHouse DividedDivided Government
Author:Abraham Lincoln
Create image

“I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see the storm coming, and I know that his hand is in it. If He has a place and work for me - and I think He has - I believe I am ready.”

IfsThinkingKnowsBelieveHandsAmericaHateI BelieveReadySlaveryInjusticeStormStorms Coming
Book:The Lincoln encyclopedia: the spoken and written words of A. Lincoln arranged for ready reference
Create image

“If as the friends of colonization hope, the present and coming generations of our countrymen shall by any means, succeed in freeing our land from the dangerous presence of slavery; and, at the same time, in restoring a captive people to their long-lost father-land, with bright prospects for the future; and this too, so gradually, that neither races nor individuals shall have suffered by the change, it will indeed be a glorious consummation.”

PeopleIfsMeanLongFatherIndividualLostRaceGenerationsLandDangerousSucceedSlaveryGloriousProspectsCaptivesCountrymenRestoringColonization
Book:Abraham Lincoln: Speeches & Writings Part 1: 1832-1858: Library of America #45
Create image

“The slave-breeders and slave-traders, are a small, odious and detested class, among you; and yet in politics, they dictate the course of all of you, and are as completely your masters, as you are the master of your own negroes.”

CoursesClassMastersSlaverySlaveTradersBreeders
Book:Speeches and Letters of Abraham Lincoln(1832-1865) (EasyRead Super Large 20pt Edition)
Create image

“He [Stephen Douglas] is blowing out the moral lights around us, when he contends that whoever wants slaves has a right to hold them; that he is penetrating, so far as lies in his power, the human soul, and eradicating the light of reason and the love of liberty, when he is in every possible way preparing the public mind, by his vast influence, for making the institution of slavery perpetual and national.”

WayWantMindHumansSoulReasonLightLyingLibertyMoralInfluenceInstitutionsSlaverySlavePerpetualPreparingHuman Soul
Book:The Complete Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858
Create image

“We believe that the spreading out and perpetuity of the institution of slavery impairs the general welfare. We believe - nay, we know, that that is the only thing that has ever threatened the perpetuity of the Union itself.”

KnowsBelieveInstitutionsSlaveryUnionsWelfareThreatenedGeneral Welfare
Book:The Complete Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln (Biographically Annotated Edition)
Create image

“Let there be no compromise on the question of extending slavery. If there be, all our labor is lost, and, ere long, must be done again.”

IfsLongDoneLostLaborSlaveryCompromiseExtendingNo Compromise
Book:The Modern Library Civil War Bookshelf 5-Book Bundle: Personal Memoirs, Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Red Badge of Courage, Jefferson Davis: The Essential Writings, The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln
Create image

“I say now, however, as I have all the while said, that on the territorial question - that is, the question of extending slavery under the national auspices, - I am inflexible. I am for no compromise which assists or permits the extension of the institution on soil owned by the nation.”

SaidNationsInstitutionsSlaveryCompromiseSoilPermitExtensionsExtendingTerritorialNo Compromise
Book:Abraham Lincoln: Speeches & Writings Part 2: 1859-1865: Library of America #46
Create image

“In 1841 you and I had together a tedious low-water trip, on a Steam Boat from Louisville to St. Louis. You may remember, as I well do, that from Louisville to the mouth of the Ohio there were, on board, ten or a dozen slaves, shackled together with irons. That sight was a continual torment to me; and I see something like it every time I touch the Ohio, or any other slave-border.”

WellsMayTogetherRememberWaterTenLowsMouthsSightSlaverySlaveBoatBordersBoardsIronDozenTormentSteamTediousOhioLouisville
Book:Abraham Lincoln: Speeches & Writings Part 1: 1832-1858: Library of America #45
Create image

“I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so."”

BelieveStatesPurposeI BelieveSpeechInstitutionsSlaveryInterfereInclinationInauguralInaugural AddressSecessionAmerican SlaverySlavery In AmericaEmancipation Proclamation
Book:The collected works of Abraham Lincoln
Create image

“In the first place, I insist that our fathers did not make this nation half slave and half free, or part slave and part free. I insist that they found the institution of slavery existing here. They did not make it so, but they left it so because they knew of no way to get rid of it at that time.”

WayFirstsFoundFatherLeftNationsHalfInstitutionsSlaverySlaveOur FatherBe A Slave
Book:CIVIL WAR – Complete History of the War, Documents, Memoirs & Biographies of the Lead Commanders: Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant & William T. Sherman, Biographies of Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis & Robert E. Lee, The Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address, Presidential Orders & Actions
Create image

“I think slavery is wrong, morally, and politically. I desire that it should be no further spread in these United States, and I should not object if it should gradually terminate in the whole Union.”

IfsThinkingShouldStatesWholeDesireUnitedUnited StatesObjectsSlaveryUnionsSpread
Book:The Complete Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln (Biographically Annotated Edition)
Create image