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The Lincoln Year Book
THE LINCOLN YEAR BOOK
[Illustration: A. Lincoln]
THE LINCOLN YEAR BOOK
AXIOMS AND APHORISMS FROM THE GREAT EMANCIPATOR
COMPILED BY _WALLACE RICE_
COMPILER OF "THE FRANKLIN YEAR BOOK"
CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1907
_Copyright, 1907,
A. C. McClurg & Co._
_Published October 12, 1907_
_The Lakeside Press_
R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY
CHICAGO
_TO_
_Francis Fisher Browne_
_A FOLLOWER OF LINCOLN
IN WAR AND PEACE
PRINCIPLE AND PRECEPT_
_Let us have faith that right makes might_
_JANUARY_
_The dogmas of the past are inadequate to the stormy present._
_FIRST_
Always do the very best you can.
_SECOND_
If our sense of duty forbids, then let us stand by our sense of duty.
_THIRD_
It's no use to be always looking up these hard spots.
_FOURTH_
All I am in the world, I owe to the opinion of me which the people
express when they call me "Honest Old Abe."
_FIFTH_
The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself in every way he
can, never suspecting that anybody is hindering him.
_SIXTH_
No one has needed favors more than I.
_SEVENTH_
Whatever is calculated to improve the condition of the honest,
struggling laboring man, I am for that thing.
_EIGHTH_
All we want is time and patience.
_NINTH_
I esteem foreigners as no better than other people--nor any worse.
_TENTH_
My experience and observation have been that those who promise the
most do the least.
_ELEVENTH_
I didn't know anything about it, but I thought you knew your own
business best.
_TWELFTH_
If I send a man to buy a horse for me, I expect him to tell me his
points--not how many hairs there are in his tail.
_THIRTEENTH_
You must act.
_FOURTEENTH_
I will try, and do the best I can.
_FIFTEENTH_
His attitude is such that, in the very selfishness of his nature, he
can not but work to be successful!
_SIXTEENTH_
Afford all an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life.
_SEVENTEENTH_
I want Christians to pray for me; I need their prayers.
_EIGHTEENTH_
The young men must not be permitted to drift away.
_NINETEENTH_
The free institutions we enjoy have developed the powers and improved
the condition of the whole people beyond any example in the world.
_TWENTIETH_
I shall do nothing in malice.
_TWENTY-FIRST_
Good men do not agree.
_TWENTY-SECOND_
I shall, to the best of my ability, repel force by force.
_TWENTY-THIRD_
Ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors of bullets.
_TWENTY-FOURTH_
I never thought he had more than average ability when we were young
men together. But, then, I suppose he thought just the same about me.
_TWENTY-FIFTH_
Moral cowardice is something which I think I never had.
_TWENTY-SIXTH_
The patriotic instinct of plain people.
_TWENTY-SEVENTH_
The face of an old friend is like a ray of sunshine through dark and
gloomy clouds.
_TWENTY-EIGHTH_
Will anybody do your work for you?
_TWENTY-NINTH_
My rightful masters, the American people.
_THIRTIETH_
Should any one in any case be content that his oath shall go unkept on
a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept?
_THIRTY-FIRST_
The value of life is to improve one's condition.
_FEBRUARY_
_Let none falter who thinks he is right, and we may succeed._
_FIRST_
Labor is like any other commodity in the market--increase the demand
for it and you increase the price of it.
_SECOND_
When I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he were fighting
bees.
_THIRD_
I say "try," for if we never try, we never succeed.
_FOURTH_
The pioneer in any movement is not generally the best man to bring
that movement to a successful issue.
_FIFTH_
Defeat and failure make everything seem wrong.
_SIXTH_
This nation cannot live on injustice.
_SEVENTH_
Something had to be done, and, as there does not appear to be any one
else to do it, I did it.
_EIGHTH_
Poor parsons seem always to have large families.
_NINTH_
If it be true that the Lord has appointed me to do the work you have
indicated, is it not probable that he would have communicated
knowledge of the fact to me as well as to you?
_TENTH_
I trust I shall be willing to do my duty, though it costs my life.
_ELEVENTH_
I hope peace will come soon, and come to stay; and so come as to be
worth the keeping in all future time.
_TWELFTH_
What there is of me is self-made.
_THIRTEENTH_
I was young once, and I am sure I was never ungenerously thrust back.
_FOURTEENTH_
Thank God for not making me a woman, but if He had, I suppose He would
have made me just as ugly as He did, and no one would ever have
tempted me.
_FIFTEENTH_
You may say anything you like about me,--if that will help.
_SIXTEENTH_
No men living are more worthy to be trusted than those who toil up
from poverty--none less inclined to take, or touch, aught which they
have not honestly earned.
_SEVENTEENTH_
As our case is new, so we must think anew.
_EIGHTEENTH_
I shall do less whenever I believe what I am doing hurts the cause;
and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more helps the cause.
_NINETEENTH_
No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another
of us.
_TWENTIETH_
If I can learn God's will, I will do it.
_TWENTY-FIRST_
It is the nature of the case, and no one is to blame.
_TWENTY-SECOND_
Tell the whole truth.
_TWENTY-THIRD_
He sticks through thick and thin,--I admire such a man.
_TWENTY-FOURTH_
If by the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a minority
of any constitutional right, it might in a moral point of view justify
revolution,--certainly would if such right were a vital one.
_TWENTY-FIFTH_
My hand was tired; but my resolution was firm.
_TWENTY-SIXTH_
It is a difficult role, and so much the greater will be the honor if
you perform it well.
_TWENTY-SEVENTH_
I shall write my papers myself. The people will understand them.
_TWENTY-EIGHTH_
Though much provoked, let us do nothing through passion and
ill-temper.
_TWENTY-NINTH_
Have confidence in yourself, a valuable if not indispensable quality.
_MARCH_
_Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and,
under a just God, can not long retain it._
_FIRST_
Twenty thousand is as much as any man ought to want.
_SECOND_
By general law, life and limb must be protected; yet often a limb must
be amputated to save a life; but a life is never given merely to save
a limb.
_THIRD_
Trust to the good sense of the American people.
_FOURTH_
Let us judge not, that we be not judged.
_FIFTH_
Put the foot down firmly.
_SIXTH_
The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise to the
occasion.
_SEVENTH_
I bring a heart true to the work.
_EIGHTH_
The people will save their government, if the government itself will
do its part only indifferently well.
_NINTH_
Most certainly I intend no injustice to any one, and if I have done
any I deeply regret it.
_TENTH_
With firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right.
_ELEVENTH_
Action in the crisis of a nation must accord with its necessities, and
therefore can seldom be confined to precedent.
_TWELFTH_
You can't put a long sword in a short scabbard.
_THIRTEENTH_
"I have made it a rule of my life," said the old parson, "not to cross
Fox River until I get to it."
_FOURTEENTH_
It is sometimes well to be humble.
_FIFTEENTH_
Don't let joy carry you into excesses.
_SIXTEENTH_
Liberty is your birthright.
_SEVENTEENTH_
If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or government
will cease.
_EIGHTEENTH_
Learn the laws and obey them.
_NINETEENTH_
It is easy to conceive that all these shades of opinion, and even
more, may be sincerely entertained by honest and truthful men.
_TWENTIETH_
It is better only sometimes to be right than at all times wrong.
_TWENTY-FIRST_
When you have an elephant on hand, and he wants to run away, better
let him run.
_TWENTY-SECOND_
Whatever God designs, He will do for me yet.
_TWENTY-THIRD_
Quarrel not at all.
_TWENTY-FOURTH_
Let no opportunity of making a mark escape.
_TWENTY-FIFTH_
I want in all cases to do right; and most particularly so in all cases
with women.
_TWENTY-SIXTH_
I should rejoice to be spared the labor of a contest, but being in I
shall go it thoroughly.
_TWENTY-SEVENTH_
I intend discourtesy to no one.
_TWENTY-EIGHTH_
The doctrine of self-government is right--absolutely and eternally
right.
_TWENTY-NINTH_
This government is expressly charged with the duty of providing for
the general welfare.
_THIRTIETH_
We are not bound to follow implicitly in whatever our fathers did. To
do so would be to reject all progress, all improvement.
_THIRTY-FIRST_
Understanding the spirit of our institutions to aim at the elevation
of men, I am opposed to whatever tends to degrade them.
_APRIL_
_The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter
us from the support of a cause which we deem to be just._
_FIRST_
You can fool some of the people all of the time, or all of the people
some of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the
time.
_SECOND_
He has abundant talents--quite enough to occupy all his time without
devoting any to temper.
_THIRD_
I do not argue--I beseech you to make the argument for yourself.
_FOURTH_
Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of
its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?
_FIFTH_
Lift artificial weights from all shoulders.
_SIXTH_
The purposes of the Lord are perfect and must prevail.
_SEVENTH_
Some people say they could not take very well to my proclamation, but
now that I have the varioloid, I am happy to say I have something that
everybody can take.
_EIGHTH_
Honest statesmanship is the employment of individual meannesses for
the public good.
_NINTH_
Obey God's commandments.
_TENTH_
Men are not flattered by being shown that there has been a difference
of purpose between the Almighty and them.
_ELEVENTH_
Important principles may and must be inflexible.
_TWELFTH_
There is but one duty now--to fight.
_THIRTEENTH_
A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations,
and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions
and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people.
_FOURTEENTH_
This, too, shall pass away: never fear.
_FIFTEENTH_
I am not afraid to die.
_SIXTEENTH_
I have said nothing but what I am willing to live by, and, if it be
the pleasure of Almighty God, to die by.
_SEVENTEENTH_
Let us strive on to finish the work we are in.
_EIGHTEENTH_
Give us a little more light, and a little less noise.
_NINETEENTH_
The wild lands of the country should be distributed so that every man
should have the means and opportunity of benefiting his condition.
_TWENTIETH_
I shall try to correct errors, when shown to be errors; and I shall
adopt new views, so fast as they shall appear to be true views.
_TWENTY-FIRST_
There is nothing like getting used to things.
_TWENTY-SECOND_
When the white man governs himself, that is self-government; but when
he governs himself and also governs another man, that is more than
self-government--that is despotism.
_TWENTY-THIRD_
If they kill me, the next will be just as bad for them.
_TWENTY-FOURTH_
With Shakespeare the thought suffices.
_TWENTY-FIFTH_
As to the crazy folks--why, I must take my chances.
_TWENTY-SIXTH_
I think it more rare, if not more wise, for a public man to abstain
from much speaking.
_TWENTY-SEVENTH_
At any rate, I will keep my part of the bargain.
_TWENTY-EIGHTH_
The Lord prefers common-looking people. That is why he made so many of
them.
_TWENTY-NINTH_
When the time comes, I shall take the ground I think is right.
_THIRTIETH_
Let the thing be pressed.
_MAY_
_Two principles have stood face to face from the beginning of time and
will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of
humanity; the other is the divine right of kings._
_FIRST_
Revolutionize through the ballot box.
_SECOND_
Repeal all past history,--you still can not repeal human nature.
_THIRD_
Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection as other
rights.
_FOURTH_
Teach men that what they can not take by an election, neither can they
take by war.
_FIFTH_
I authorize no bargains, and will be bound by none.
_SIXTH_
When a man is sincerely penitent for his misdeeds, and gives
satisfactory evidence of the same, he can safely be pardoned.
_SEVENTH_
If destruction be our lot, it must spring up among ourselves.
_EIGHTH_
In a democracy, where the majority rule by the ballot through
the forms of law, physical rebellions are radically wrong,
unconstitutional, and are treason.
_NINTH_
Let us be friends, and treat each other like friends.
_TENTH_
If I was less thin-skinned I should get along much better.
_ELEVENTH_
We will talk over the merits of the case.
_TWELFTH_
Nothing shall be wanting on my part, if sustained by the American
people and God.
_THIRTEENTH_
Are you not over-cautious?
_FOURTEENTH_
The severest justice may not always be the best policy.
_FIFTEENTH_
The rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly
inadmissible.
_SIXTEENTH_
One poor man, colored though he be, with God on his side, is stronger
against us than the hosts of the Rebellion.
_SEVENTEENTH_
Never fear, victory will come.
_EIGHTEENTH_
The Lord has not deserted me thus far, and He is not going to now.
_NINETEENTH_
I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They
have clung to me all my life.
_TWENTIETH_
Are you strong enough?
_TWENTY-FIRST_
If I do not go away from here a wiser man, I shall go away a better
man.
_TWENTY-SECOND_
I know that liberty is right.
_TWENTY-THIRD_
You must not give me the praise--it belongs to God.
_TWENTY-FOURTH_
It has always been a sentiment with me that all mankind should be
free.
_TWENTY-FIFTH_
I don't pretend to be bright.
_TWENTY-SIXTH_
It is only by the active development of events that character and
ability can be tested.
_TWENTY-SEVENTH_
I remember a good story when I hear it, but I never invented anything
original: I am only a retail dealer.
_TWENTY-EIGHTH_
Few men are tried, or so many would not fit their places so badly.
_TWENTY-NINTH_
Preach God and liberty to the "bulls" and "bears."
_THIRTIETH_
The Union is older than any of the States.
_THIRTY-FIRST_
I only beg that you will not ask impossibilities of me.
_JUNE_
_It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining
before us,--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to
the cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion,--that
we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain._
_FIRST_
Let the people know the truth, and the country is safe.
_SECOND_
Men moving in an official circle are apt to become merely
official--not to say arbitrary.
_THIRD_
Negroes, like other people, act upon motives. Why should they do
anything for us if we will do nothing for them?
_FOURTH_
The Lord is always on the side of the right.
_FIFTH_
If I go down, I intend to go down like the "Cumberland," with my
colors flying.
_SIXTH_
Killing the dog does not cure the bite.
_SEVENTH_
I am nothing, but truth is everything.
_EIGHTH_
Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if
labor had not first existed.
_NINTH_
Whatever shall appear to be God's will, I will do.
_TENTH_
Only those generals who gain success can be dictators.
_ELEVENTH_
Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws?
_TWELFTH_
The Patagonians open oysters and throw the shells out of the
window--until the pile gets higher than the house; then they move.
_THIRTEENTH_
The question of time can not and must not be ignored.
_FOURTEENTH_
We must be more cheerful in the future.
_FIFTEENTH_
Come what will, I will keep my faith with friend and foe.
_SIXTEENTH_
Keep in your own sphere, and there will be no difficulty.
_SEVENTEENTH_
If we could first know where we are and whither we are tending, we
could better judge what to do and how to do it.
_EIGHTEENTH_
I am never easy, when I am handling a thought, until I have bounded it
north, south, east, and west.
_NINETEENTH_
Others have been made fools of by the girls, but this can never be
said of me; I made a fool of myself.
_TWENTIETH_
It is not best to swap horses while crossing a stream.
_TWENTY-FIRST_
I can only trust in God that I have made no mistake.
_TWENTY-SECOND_
It has been said of the world's history hitherto that "might makes
right"; it is for us and for our times to reverse the maxim, and to
show that right makes might.
_TWENTY-THIRD_
I shall stay right here and do my duty.
_TWENTY-FOURTH_
If we have no friends, we have no pleasure.
_TWENTY-FIFTH_
I am older in years than I am in the tricks and trades of politicians.
_TWENTY-SIXTH_
Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the
right to rise up and shake off the existing government and form a new
one that suits them better.
_TWENTY-SEVENTH_
Our enemies want a squabble; and that they can have if we explain; and
they can not have it if we don't.
_TWENTY-EIGHTH_
If it must be that I go down, let me go down linked to truth.
_TWENTY-NINTH_
I am very little inclined on any occasion to say anything unless I
hope to produce some good by it.
_THIRTIETH_
Let us forget errors.
_JULY_
_Our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived
in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created
equal._
_FIRST_
This country, with all its institutions, belongs to the people who
inhabit it.
_SECOND_
What is the use of putting up the gap when the fence is down all
around?
_THIRD_
We hold the power--and bear the responsibility.
_FOURTH_
My countrymen, if you have been taught doctrines conflicting with the
great landmarks of the Declaration of Independence; if you have
listened to suggestions which would take away from its grandeur and
mutilate the fair symmetry of its proportions; if you have been
inclined to believe that all men are not created equal in those
inalienable rights enumerated by our charter of liberty, let me
entreat you to come back.
_FIFTH_
The Fourth of July has not quite dwindled away; it is still a great
day for firecrackers.
_SIXTH_
I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from the
sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.
_SEVENTH_
I have more pegs than holes to put them in.
_EIGHTH_
The government must not undertake to run the churches.
_NINTH_
All seems well with us.
_TENTH_
With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can
succeed.
_ELEVENTH_
It is no child's play to save the principles of Jefferson from total
overthrow in this nation.
_TWELFTH_
If the Ship of State should suffer wreck now, it will never need
another pilot.
_THIRTEENTH_
Let us see what we can do.
_FOURTEENTH_
I will try to go to God with my sorrows.
_FIFTEENTH_
The wriggle to live, without toil, work, or labor, which I am not free
from myself.
_SIXTEENTH_
Persisting in a charge one does not know to be true is malicious
slander.
_SEVENTEENTH_
Steer from point to point--no farther than you can see.
_EIGHTEENTH_
God bless the women of America!
_NINETEENTH_
The churches, as such, must take care of themselves.
_TWENTIETH_
There is no more dangerous or expensive analysis than that which
consists of trying a man.
_TWENTY-FIRST_
Answer with facts, not with arguments.
_TWENTY-SECOND_
The nation is beginning a new life.
_TWENTY-THIRD_
Better give your path to a dog than to be bitten by him in contesting
for the right.
_TWENTY-FOURTH_
Money being the object, the man having money would be the victim.
_TWENTY-FIFTH_
I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming
conviction that I had nowhere else to go.
_TWENTY-SIXTH_
Early impressions last longer.
_TWENTY-SEVENTH_
Stand with anybody who stands right, ... and part with him when he
goes wrong.
_TWENTY-EIGHTH_
My advice is to keep cool.
_TWENTY-NINTH_
If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and
finisher.
_THIRTIETH_
I have done just as much as, and no more than, the public knows.
_THIRTY-FIRST_
Many free countries have lost their liberties and ours may lose hers;
but, if she shall, be it my proudest boast, not that I was the last to
desert, but that I never deserted her.
_AUGUST_
_I feel that I can not succeed without the Divine blessing, and on the
Almighty Being I place my reliance for support._
_FIRST_
It is not "Can any of us imagine better?" but "Can we all do better?"
_SECOND_
Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all
national governments.
_THIRD_
Wanting to work is so rare a merit that it should be encouraged.
_FOURTH_
We shall sooner have the fowl by hatching the egg than by smashing it.
_FIFTH_
Maintain the honor and integrity of the nation.
_SIXTH_
I look to the American people, and to that God who has never forsaken
them.
_SEVENTH_
Secure peace through victory.
_EIGHTH_
What is the influence of fashion but the influence that other people's
actions have on our actions?
_NINTH_
Our government rests in public opinion.
_TENTH_
Posterity has done nothing for us, and, theorize on it as we may,
practically we shall do very little for it unless we are made to think
we are, at the same time, doing something for ourselves.
_ELEVENTH_
I am glad to find a man who can go ahead without me.
_TWELFTH_
If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him you are his
sincere friend.
_THIRTEENTH_
Gold is good in its place; but living, brave, and patriotic men are
better than gold.
_FOURTEENTH_
These are not the days of miracles, and I suppose I am not to expect a
direct revelation.
_FIFTEENTH_
Do not mix politics with your profession.
_SIXTEENTH_
The first reformer in any movement has to meet with such a hard
opposition, and gets so battered and bespattered, that afterward, when
people find they have to accept his reform, they will accept it more
easily from another man.
_SEVENTEENTH_
Versatility is an injurious possession, since it can never be
greatness.
_EIGHTEENTH_
A jury has too frequently at least one member more ready to hang the
panel than to hang the traitor.
_NINETEENTH_
It is a cheering thought throughout life, that something can be done
to ameliorate the condition of those who have been subjected to the
hard usages of the world.
_TWENTIETH_
With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases
with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others the same
word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and
the product of other men's labor.
_TWENTY-FIRST_
Great distance in either time or space has wonderful power to lull and
render quiescent the human mind.
_TWENTY-SECOND_
We are going through with our task.
_TWENTY-THIRD_
I do not impugn the motives of any one opposed to me.
_TWENTY-FOURTH_
Human nature will not change.
_TWENTY-FIFTH_
Beware of rashness!
_TWENTY-SIXTH_
It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels he is worthy of
himself.
_TWENTY-SEVENTH_
All should have an equal chance.
_TWENTY-EIGHTH_
I hope to be false to nothing you have been taught to expect of me.
_TWENTY-NINTH_
All honor to Jefferson!
_THIRTIETH_
It is the man who does not want to express an opinion whose opinion I
want.
_THIRTY-FIRST_
I hope I am a Christian.
_SEPTEMBER_
_I feel that the time is coming when the sun shall shine, the rain
fall, on no man who shall go forth to unrequited toil._
_FIRST_
Labor is the superior of capital and deserves much the higher
consideration.
_SECOND_
Come, let us reason together, like the honest fellows we are.
_THIRD_
There is no such thing as a free man being fixed for life in the
condition of a hired laborer.
_FOURTH_
There is, and probably always will be, a relation between labor and
capital producing mutual benefits.
_FIFTH_
Labor is prior to and independent of capital.
_SIXTH_
This is a land where freedom of speech is guaranteed.
_SEVENTH_
Workingmen are the basis of all governments.
_EIGHTH_
Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice
of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world?
_NINTH_
The man does not live who is more devoted to peace than I.
_TENTH_
How hard it is to leave one's country no better than if one had never
lived in it!
_ELEVENTH_
Keep the jewel of liberty in the family of freedom.
_TWELFTH_
Among freemen there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the
bullet.
_THIRTEENTH_
I have done all I could for the good of mankind.
_FOURTEENTH_
It is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be
on the Lord's side.
_FIFTEENTH_
No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's
consent.
_SIXTEENTH_
What will the country say?
_SEVENTEENTH_
Mediocrity is sure of detection.
_EIGHTEENTH_
Washington was a happy man, because he was engaged in benefiting his
race.
_NINETEENTH_
When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced,
persuasion--kind, unassuming persuasion--should ever be adopted.
_TWENTIETH_
If all that has been said by orators and poets since the creation in
praise of women were applied to the women of America, it would not do
them full justice for their conduct during the war.
_TWENTY-FIRST_
There is something ludicrous in promises of good or threats of evil a
great way off.
_TWENTY-SECOND_
Object whatsoever is possible, still the question recurs, "Can we do
better?"
_TWENTY-THIRD_
I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of
Almighty God.
_TWENTY-FOURTH_
God is with us.
_TWENTY-FIFTH_
Intemperance is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of all evils
among mankind.
_TWENTY-SIXTH_
When any church will inscribe over its altar, as its sole
qualification for membership, the Saviour's condensed statement of
both law and gospel, that church will I join with all my heart and
soul.
_TWENTY-SEVENTH_
Wise counsels may accelerate, or mistakes delay it, but the victory is
sure to come.
_TWENTY-EIGHTH_
The first necessity is of proving that popular government is not an
absurdity.
_TWENTY-NINTH_
People seldom run unless there is something to run from.
_THIRTIETH_
Allow the people to do as they please with their own business.
_OCTOBER_
_Great statesmen as they (the Fathers of the Republic) were, they knew
the tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants, and so they established
these great self-evident truths, that when in the future some man,
some faction, some interest, should set up the doctrine that none but
rich men, none but white men, or none but Anglo-Saxon white men were
entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, their
posterity might look up again to the Declaration of Independence and
take courage to renew the battle which their fathers began, so that
truth and justice and mercy and all the humane and Christian virtues
might not be extinguished from the land; so that no man would
hereafter dare to limit and circumscribe the great principles on which
the temple of liberty was being built._
_FIRST_
Nothing stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the
world to be trodden on and degraded and imbruted by its fellows.
_SECOND_
You must remember that some things legally right are not morally
right.
_THIRD_
Mercy bears richer rewards than strict justice.
_FOURTH_
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out
these great things.
_FIFTH_
It is not much in the nature of man to be driven to do anything.
_SIXTH_
All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my mother.
_SEVENTH_
The times are too grave and perilous for ambitious schemes and
personal rivalries.
_EIGHTH_
Act as becomes a patriot.
_NINTH_
Suspicion and jealousy never did help any man in any situation.
_TENTH_
If danger ever reaches us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot
come from abroad.
_ELEVENTH_
I can't take pay for doing my duty.
_TWELFTH_
I have not willingly planted a thorn in any man's bosom.
_THIRTEENTH_
We had better have a friend than an enemy.
_FOURTEENTH_
In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free.
_FIFTEENTH_
No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for
personal contention.
_SIXTEENTH_
There is no grievance that is a fit subject of redress by mob law.
_SEVENTEENTH_
Punishment has to follow sin.
_EIGHTEENTH_
Let us to the end dare to do our duty.
_NINETEENTH_
Few can be induced to labor exclusively for posterity, and none will
do it enthusiastically.
_TWENTIETH_
It is a quality of revolutions not to go by old lines or old laws, but
to break up both and make new ones.
_TWENTY-FIRST_
Military glory--that attractive rainbow that rises in showers of
blood.
_TWENTY-SECOND_
Pleasures to be enjoyed, or pains to be endured, after we shall be
dead and gone, are but little regarded.
_TWENTY-THIRD_
Allow all the governed an equal voice in the government; that, and
that alone, is self-government.
_TWENTY-FOURTH_
The universal sense of mankind on any subject is an argument, or at
least an influence, not easily overcome.
_TWENTY-FIFTH_
Without guile and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God and
go forward without fear and with manly hearts.
_TWENTY-SIXTH_
Unless among those deficient of intellect, every one you trade with
makes something.
_TWENTY-SEVENTH_
Implore the compassion and forgiveness of the Almighty, that he may
enlighten the nation to know and to do His will.
_TWENTY-EIGHTH_
We should look beyond our noses.
_TWENTY-NINTH_
Labor for all now living, as well as all hereafter to live.
_THIRTIETH_
I have acted upon my best convictions, without selfishness or malice.
_THIRTY-FIRST_
Success does not so much depend upon external help as on
self-reliance.
_NOVEMBER_
_All are of the great family of men, and if there is one shackle upon
any of them, it would be far better to lift the load._
_FIRST_
Men should utter nothing for which they would not be willingly
responsible through time and in eternity.
_SECOND_
Never mind if you are a count; you shall be treated with just as much
consideration, for all that.
_THIRD_
If Almighty God gives a man a cowardly pair of legs, how can he help
their running away with him?
_FOURTH_
It is against my principles to contest a clear matter of right.
_FIFTH_
The strife of elections is but human nature applied to the facts of
the case.
_SIXTH_
How nobly distinguished that people who shall have planted and
nurtured both the political and moral freedom of their species!
_SEVENTH_
If we succeed, there will be glory enough.
_EIGHTH_
Office seekers are a curse to the country.
_NINTH_
Justice to all.
_TENTH_
It must be somebody's business.
_ELEVENTH_
Every man has a right to be equal to every other man.
_TWELFTH_
Happy day, when, all appetites controlled, all passions subdued, all
matter subjugated, mind, conquering mind, shall live and move, the
monarch of the world!
_THIRTEENTH_
We will be remembered in spite of ourselves.
_FOURTEENTH_
I don't know anything about money. I never had enough of my own to
fret me.
_FIFTEENTH_
Heal the wounds of the nation.
_SIXTEENTH_
I am not at liberty to shift my ground, that is out of the question.
_SEVENTEENTH_
For thirty years I have been a temperance man, and I am too old to
change.
_EIGHTEENTH_
The heart is the great highroad to man's reason.
_NINETEENTH_
Hope to all the world for all future time.
_TWENTIETH_
The young men must not wait to be brought forward by the older men.
_TWENTY-FIRST_
Hold firm as a chain of steel.
_TWENTY-SECOND_
One war at a time.
_TWENTY-THIRD_
I did not break my sword, for I had none to break, but I bent my
musket pretty badly.
_TWENTY-FOURTH_
Meet face to face and converse together--the best way to efface
unpleasant feeling.
_TWENTY-FIFTH_
And now for a day of Thanksgiving!
_TWENTY-SIXTH_
The influence of fashion is not confined to any particular thing or
class of things.
_TWENTY-SEVENTH_
Before I resolve to do the one thing or the other, I must gain my
confidence in my own ability to keep my resolves when they are made.
_TWENTY-EIGHTH_
Such of us as have never fallen victims to intemperance have been
spared more from the absence of appetite than from any mental or moral
superiority over those who have.
_TWENTY-NINTH_
Our political revolution of 1776 was the germ that has vegetated, and
still is to grow into the universal liberty of mankind.
_THIRTIETH_
By mutual concessions we should harmonize and act together.
_DECEMBER_
_Teach hope to all--despair to none._
_FIRST_
Rise up to the height of a generation of free men worthy of a free
government.
_SECOND_
Let us be quite sober.
_THIRD_
We prefer a candidate who will allow the people to have their own way,
regardless of his private opinion.
_FOURTH_
The people's will is the ultimate law for all.
_FIFTH_
I shall do my utmost that whoever is to hold the helm for the next
voyage shall start with the best possible chance of saving the ship.
_SIXTH_
My gratitude is free from all sense of personal triumph.
_SEVENTH_
How to do something, and not to do too much, is the desideratum.
_EIGHTH_
We mean to be as deliberate and calm as it is possible to be; but as
firm and resolved as it is possible for men to be.
_NINTH_
He that will fight to keep himself a slave, ought to be a slave.
_TENTH_
If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would
make no difference.
_ELEVENTH_
Under all this seeming want of life and motion, the world does move
nevertheless.
_TWELFTH_
I shall never be old enough to speak without embarrassment when I have
nothing to talk about.
_THIRTEENTH_
It adds nothing to my satisfaction that another man shall be
disappointed.
_FOURTEENTH_
Take your full time.
_FIFTEENTH_
I surely will not blame them for not doing what I should not know how
to do myself.
_SIXTEENTH_
The man and the dollar, but, in case of conflict, the man before the
dollar.
_SEVENTEENTH_
The strongest bond of human sympathy, outside of the family relation,
should be one uniting all working people, of all nations, and tongues,
and kindreds.
_EIGHTEENTH_
We can see the past, though we may not claim to have directed it; and
seeing it, we feel more hopeful and confident for the future.
_NINETEENTH_
Squirming and crawling around can do no good.
_TWENTIETH_
I wish to see all men free.
_TWENTY-FIRST_
Let them laugh, so long as the thing works well.
_TWENTY-SECOND_
Let there be peace.
_TWENTY-THIRD_
The age is not yet dead.
_TWENTY-FOURTH_
With malice toward none, with charity for all.
_TWENTY-FIFTH_
Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers
of a common country.
_TWENTY-SIXTH_
Be hopeful.
_TWENTY-SEVENTH_
Let not him who is homeless pull down the house of another.
_TWENTY-EIGHTH_
The struggle for to-day is not altogether for to-day--it is for a vast
future.
_TWENTY-NINTH_
We can not escape history.
_THIRTIETH_
We here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain; that
the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom; and that the
government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not
perish from the earth.
_THIRTY-FIRST_
Let us dare to do our duty as we understand it.
* * * * *
_Uniform with this Volume_
THE FRANKLIN YEAR BOOK. Maxims and Morals from the Great American
Philosopher for Every Day in the Year. Compiled by Wallace Rice . . .
_Net_ $1.00
A. C. MCCLURG & CO. CHICAGO
