Great Abraham Lincoln Quotes

[Matt Macoubrie]

So I am giving a presentation on Abraham Lincoln next week for a conference here in the "Good Life" and was wondering people's opinions on something! I want to find the BEST quote from Abraham Lincoln regarding who he really was! Comment the quotes, and I will let you know which one i picked!!!

[RJNorton]

Matt, I am not sure if this is what you seek, but it's certainly among my favorite Lincoln quotes.

"If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what's said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference."

I must add that the Fehrenbachers give this quote a "D" and list the source as Abrahm J. Dittenhoefer. They indicate Dittenhoefer's claim to have had frequent meetings with Lincoln is not corroborated by other evidence. However, the same quote is on pp. 258-259 of The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln: Six Months at the White House by Francis B. Carpenter.

[LincolnMan]

Matt: how did the conference go? What quote did you use?

[Matt Macoubrie]

The conference went great, I cannot remember the quote that I used, but it was something on the line of how though never has a democracy lasted long, the United States people will triumph and overcome difficulties to become that first democratic nation to last forever!

[LincolnMan]

I hope that's true!

[Liz Rosenthal]

(08-11-2013 09:47 AM)Matt Macoubrie Wrote:  The conference went great, I cannot remember the quote that I used, but it was something on the line of how though never has a democracy lasted long, the United States people will triumph and overcome difficulties to become that first democratic nation to last forever!

Where is this quote from? To me, it sounds like something somebody made up after the fact. It's hard for me to believe that Lincoln would make such a declaration, especially not in the 1850s or 60s, when it was not at all clear whether representative government could continue. This question was the key to so many of Lincoln's speeches and writings - even going back to his 1838 Lyceum speech. Also, this quote seems to be more concerned with American glory than with democratic government, and I'm pretty sure that Lincoln was not concerned with American glory in and of itself. He was concerned about keeping America going as a democracy for the sake of the American people *and* to give a beacon of hope to people around the world living under despotism or less than ideal governmental systems, that they could throw off their shackles, too. It appears to me that he hoped America could lead by example, and that was hard to do while slavery still existed. Finally, Lincoln was a realistic man and politician. The idea of any government lasting forever, let alone a democratic one, sounds a little too pie-in-the-sky for Lincoln to have espoused.

[Rob Wick]

I have to agree with Liz here. When I put in the word "democracy" into the Collected Works website, nothing like this came up. Indeed most of the references to "democracy" were to Democrats. I would like to know its provenance.

Best
Rob