Political Quotes

Editor's note · Context

Message to Congress

Share

More from Abraham Lincoln

Mar 17, 1865

I have always thought that all men should be free; but if any should be slaves, it should be first those who desire it for themselves, and secondly those who desire it for others.

gutenberg.org
Apr 11, 1865

He said, with a great deal of emphasis, and with an expression of countenance I shall never forget: "When a man is sincerely penitent for his misdeeds, and gives satisfactory evidence of the same, he can safely be pardoned, and there is no…

gutenberg.org
Mar 10, 1865

I do hereby notify them that all deserters who shall, within sixty days from the date of this proclamation, viz, on or before the 10th day of May, 1865, return to service or report themselves to a provost-marshal shall be pardoned, on…

presidency.ucsb.edu
Mar 16, 1865

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

nps.gov

Other voices in this conversation