“Must a government of necessity be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?”

— Abraham Lincoln, Message to Congress in Special Session (4 July 1861)

About Abraham Lincoln

1809 – 1865

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

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

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

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

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

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“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?”

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“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.”

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

— Charles Dickens

“Must a government of necessity be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?”

About Abraham Lincoln

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