Abraham Lincoln Death Anniversary: 20 Historical Quotes By 16th President

Abraham Lincoln, American statesman and lawyer who served as the 16th President of the United States, was one of the most revered politicians of the country. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared all slaves should be free at a time when slavery was considered the norm.

It was probably his liberal thinking and open-mindedness that did not sit well with many, because after the end of the American Civil War, Confederate sympathizer and actor John Wilkes Booth assassinated the former president at the Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. on April 14, 1865.

However, Lincoln’s views and legacy did not die with him and still continue to inspire millions of people across the globe.

Today, on the 153rd anniversary of his assassination, here are some wise and inspirational sayings from the former president.

1. "I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal."

2. "If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?"

3. "If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it."

4. "Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change public opinion, can change the government, practically just so much."

5. "Truth is generally the best vindication against slander."

6. "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."

7. "Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way."

8. "The time comes upon every public man when it is best for him to keep his lips closed."

9. "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

10. "We hope all danger may be overcome; but to conclude that no danger may ever arise would itself be extremely dangerous."

11. "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

12. "Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in."

13. "Let us then turn this government back into the channel in which the framers of the Constitution originally placed it."

14. "The people — the people — are the rightful masters of both congresses, and courts — not to overthrow the constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert it."

15. "In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best, hope of earth."

16. "If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."

17. "I have endured a great deal of ridicule without much malice; and have received a great deal of kindness, not quite free from ridicule. I am used to it."

18. "In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best, hope of earth."

19. "Let your military measures be strong enough to repel the invader and keep the peace, and not so strong as to unnecessarily harass and persecute the people."

20. "There can be glory in failure and despair in success."