33 Abraham Lincoln Quotes That Still Ring True Today

These powerful Abraham Lincoln quotes about freedom, adversity, and more show why he's often called the greatest president in American history.

"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

"Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it."

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

"Adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did.”

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

“Perhaps a man's character was like a tree, and his reputation like its shadow; the shadow is what we think of it, the tree is the real thing."

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

"Do good to those who hate you and turn their ill will to friendship.”

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

“If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?”

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.”

Source

ooocha/Flickr

---

“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.”

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

"Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.”

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

"We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing.”

Source

Library of Congress

---

"If the great American people will only keep their temper, on both sides of the line, the troubles will come to an end..."

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

"Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

“I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.”

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

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

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

“The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them.”

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

"The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me."

Source

Library of Congress

---

“The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly.”

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

"Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it."

Source

Pixabay

---

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion.”

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

“The past is the cause of the present, and the present will be the cause of the future. All these are links in the endless chain stretching from the finite to the infinite."

Source

gageskidmore/Flickr

---

"Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today."

Source

Library of Congress

---

"I have stepped out upon this platform that I may see you and that you may see me, and in the arrangement I have the best of the bargain."

Source

Library of Congress

---

"It is not best to swap horses while crossing the river."

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

"We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection."

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

"Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them."

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

"If all do not join now to save the good old ship of the Union this voyage nobody will have a chance to pilot her on another voyage."

Source

Library of Congress

---

“I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day.”

Source

usnationalarchives/Flickr

---

"Stand with anybody that stands RIGHT. Stand with him while he is right and PART with him when he goes wrong."

Source

Library of Congress

---

"Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed."

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

"The legitimate object of government is 'to do for the people what needs to be done, but which they can not, by individual effort, do at all, or do so well, for themselves'."

Source

Library of Congress

---

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

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

"I cannot bring myself to believe that any human being lives who would do me any harm.”

Source

Wikimedia Commons

---

Abraham Lincoln could easily be the most often misquoted figure in American history. Within just the last decade, we've seen headline-grabbing incidents in which U.S. presidents on both sides of the political divide have deployed fake Abraham Lincoln quotes.

But setting aside the fake Abraham Lincoln quotes that still sound so very good, the man left behind a wealth of verifiable wisdom that sounds even better.

The self-taught lawyer who ascended the political ladder to become America's 16th president in 1861 picked up a lot of wisdom (and a fair amount of odd humor) along the way.

Most of us may know him as the enactor of the Emancipation Proclamation who preserved the Union and had an affinity for tall hats, but Lincoln had a lot to say about humanity, adversity, the role of government, and more. See for yourself in the gallery of Abraham Lincoln quotes above.

---

History Uncovered Podcast Episode 58: Fun Facts About George Washington And Abraham Lincoln Whether it's the truth about Washington's teeth or Lincoln's little-known love of cats, discover some of the most incredible facts about two of America's most revered presidents.

---

After reading through the most powerful Abraham Lincoln quotes, take a look at Ralph Lincoln, a distant relative of the president who bears a striking resemblance to his ancestor. Or, discover the little-known story about Abraham Lincoln's successful wrestling career.