Nobody has ever expected me to be president. In my poor, lean lank face nobody has ever seen that any cabbages were sprouting. ~ Abraham Lincoln 

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice. ~ Abraham Lincoln 

Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. ~ Abraham Lincoln 

The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every other calling, is diligence. Leave nothing for to-morrow which can be done to-day. ~ Abraham Lincoln 

Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease ~ Abraham Lincoln 

Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. He who molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or decisions possible or impossible to execute. ~ Abraham Lincoln 

That I am not a member of any Christian Church, is true; but I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures; and I have never spoken with intentional disrespect of religion in general, or of any denomination of Christians in particular. ~ Abraham Lincoln 

Friends, I agree with you in Providence; but I believe in the Providence of the most men, the largest purse, and the longest cannon. 1854 ~ Abraham Lincoln 

I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. ~ Abraham Lincoln 

The United States government must not undertake to run the Churches. When an inidual, in the Church or out of it, becomes dangerous to the public interest he must be checked. ~ Abraham Lincoln