Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight always; and when, after much loss on both sides, and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions as to terms of intercourse are again upon you.
From his first inaugural address, Lincoln warned that war would not resolve the underlying issues between the states, only postpone them.
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If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.
Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish.
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