On the recordApril 4, 1864
I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.
Source
gutenberg.orgAbraham Lincoln: “I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.”
Editor's note · Context
In a letter reflecting on the course of the Civil War, Lincoln humbly acknowledges the powerful influence of circumstances over his own agency.
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Grant that he desires the elective franchise, will he not attain it sooner by saving the already advanced steps towards it, than by running backward over them?
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If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business.
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