“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.”

— Abraham Lincoln, Speech at the Republican State Convention, Springfield, Illinois (16 June 1858)

Found in:Courage Quotes Leadership Quotes Deep Quotes

About Abraham Lincoln

1809 – 1865

Sixteenth President of the United States, who led the nation through the Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

See all 54 Abraham Lincoln quotes →

More from Abraham Lincoln

“The better part of one's life consists of his friendships.”

— Abraham Lincoln

“Let them adopt the maxim, "Better luck next time"; and then, by renewed exertion, make that better luck for themselves.”

— Abraham Lincoln

“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital.”

— Abraham Lincoln

“We live in a country where the people own the Government and not in a country where the Government owns the people.”

— Winston Churchill

“It would be thought a hard Government that should tax its People one-tenth Part of their Time, to be employed in its Service.”

— Benjamin Franklin

“When I meet a government which says to me, "Your money or your life," why should I be in haste to give it my money?”

— Henry David Thoreau

“Your ultimate allegiance is not to the government, not to the state, not to nation, not to any man-made institution.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”

— Nelson Mandela

“The Circumlocution Office was (as everybody knows without being told) the most important Department under Government.”

— Charles Dickens

“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.”

About Abraham Lincoln

More from Abraham Lincoln

Related quotes