113 Powerful Abraham Lincoln Quotes on Leadership
Born in Kentucky in 1809, Abraham Lincoln was a respected lawyer and statesman. He served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his death in 1865.
During his time in office, he abolished slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation and held the Union together throughout the American Civil War.
With such an illustrious career and life, it’s no surprise he is widely regarded as one of the greatest leaders of the 19th century.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States
Lincoln’s journey to the highest office in the land was not easy, though. He overcame numerous obstacles throughout his life, including:
Growing up in humble beginnings
The death of his mother at a young age
The death of his sons, and
Ongoing battles with depression
It could be argued that it was these challenges that helped shape President Lincoln into the man the American people know and love today. Honest. Humble. Courageous.
During my life, I've found Honest Abe to be a tremendous source of inspiration. His life provides instant perspective and his words are motivation to overcome even the greatest challenges.
Here are 113 memorable Abraham Lincoln quotes on life, leadership, power, and freedom:
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.”
“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.”
“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.”
“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
“Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”
“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.”
“Whatever you are, be a good one.”
“You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry.”
“Have I not destroyed my enemy when I have made him into my friend?”
“Force is all conquering, but its victories are short lived.”
“My best friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read.”
“My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side.”
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.”
“A tendency to melancholy...let it be observed, is a misfortune, not a fault.”
“I'm a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn't have the heart to let him down.”
“And this, too, shall pass away.”
“Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.”
“When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion.”
“Avoid popularity if you would have peace.”
“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.”
“I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.”
“Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”
“Those who look for the bad in people will surely find it.”
“I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.”
“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”
“I would rather be a little nobody, than to be an evil somebody.”
“If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?”
“The best way to predict your future is to create it.”
“I laugh because I must not cry, that is all, that is all.”
“Tact: the ability to describe others as they see themselves.”
“I will prepare and some day my chance will come.”
“No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.”
“All I have learned, I learned from books.”
“The strongest bond of human sympathy…should be one uniting working people of all nations and tongues and kindreds.”
“Every man's happiness is his own responsibility.”
“I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.”
“It's not me who can't keep a secret. It's the people I tell that can't.”
“You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.”
“It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.”
“I am not concerned that you have fallen -- I am concerned that you arise.”
“The better part of one's life consists of his friendships.”
“To ease another’s heartache is to forget one’s own.”
“Achievement has no color.”
“We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.”
“Determine that the thing can and shall be done and then... find the way.”
“Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality.”
“You can’t make a weak man strong by making a strong man weak.”
“Life is hard but so very beautiful.”
“It often requires more courage to dare to do right than to fear to do wrong.”
“If people see the Capitol going on, it is a sign we intend the Union shall go on.”
“Nothing will divert me from my purpose.”
“No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.”
“A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have.”
“Tis better people think you a fool, then open your mouth and erase all doubt.”
“I am nothing, truth is everything.”
“If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
“A nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.”
“Everybody likes compliments.”
“Important principles may and must be inflexible.”
“Your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.”
“It is not best to swap horses while crossing the river.”
“You can lose everything in life, but not dreams.”
“Every one desires to live long, but no one would be old.”
“I have been too familiar with disappointments to be very much chagrined.”
“Gold is good in its place, but living, brave, patriotic men are better than gold.”
“As our case is new, we must think and act anew.”
“If I had had my way, this war would never have been commenced.”
“Kindness is the only service that will stand the storm of life and not wash out.”
“In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.”
“Demagoguery is the ability to dress minor ideas with major words.”
“Don't criticize them; they are just what we would be under similar circumstances.”
“A man has not the time to spend half his life in quarrels.”
“If any man ceases to attack me, I never remember the past against him.”
“If you want to test a man's character, give him power.”
“If there is anything a man can do well, I say let him do it. Give him a chance”
“We cannot escape history.”
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
“I would just as soon die now, but I haven't done anything yet to be remembered by.”
“A chair that reclines is mighty fine.”
“If we never try, we shall never succeed.”
“The strength of a nation lies in the homes of its people.”
“Be excellent to each other.”
“...with malice toward none.”
“Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.”
“Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.”
“The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of the government in the next.”
“The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
“Prosperity is the fruit of labor.”
“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.”
“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.”
“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.”
“We have, as all will agree, a free Government, where every man has a right to be equal with every other man. In this great struggle, this form of Government and every form of human right is endangered if our enemies succeed.”
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
“I am always for the man who wishes to work.”
“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.”
“If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend.”
“Do good to those who hate you and turn their ill will to friendship.”
“If the great American people will only keep their temper, on both sides of the line, the troubles will come to an end…”
“I don’t know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be.”
“Our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.”
“I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.”
“Human action can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed.”
“A farce or comedy is best played; a tragedy is best read at home.”
“If I am killed, I can die but once; but to live in constant dread of it, is to die over and over again.”
“I can make a General in five minutes but a good horse is hard to replace.”
“I believe that every individual is naturally entitled to do as he pleases with himself and the fruits of his labor, so far as it in no way interferes with any other men's rights.”
“Half finished work generally proves to be labor lost.”
“No country can sustain, in idleness, more than a small percentage of its numbers. The great majority must labor at something productive.”
“Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.”
“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.”
“The Lord prefers common-looking people. That is why he made so many of them.”
“Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow. The shadow is what we think it is and the tree is the real thing.”
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About The Author
Emily Sander is an ICF-certified leadership coach with more than 15 years of experience in the business world and the author of Hacking Executive Leadership. She’s been featured in several print publications, online articles, and podcasts, including CEO Today Magazine, Leading to Fulfillment, and Leadership Powered by Common Sense.
Emily has a passion for helping business leaders reach their full potential. Go here to read her story from seasoned executive to knowledgeable coach. If you want to send Emily a quick message, then visit her contact page here.