“If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth.”

— Abraham Lincoln, Letter to John T. Stuart (23 January 1841)

About Abraham Lincoln

1809 – 1865

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

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

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

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

“From a Child I was fond of Reading, and all the little Money that came into my Hands was ever laid out in Books.”

“Listen therefore to your elder brother, and you should be obedient to your elder sister as if she were your mother.”

“You can live without a father who accepts you, but you cannot live without a world that makes some sense to you.”

“Meditation on the chance which led to the meeting of my mother and father is even more salutary than meditation on death.”

“My father invested his money so securely in the banking business that he was never able to get any of it out again.”

“In great states, children are always trying to remain children, and the parents wanting to make men and women of them.”