Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say, for one, that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow-men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.
Abraham Lincoln
- Life
- 1809-1865
- Occupations
- politician, postmaster, lawyer
- Notable works
- Gettysburg Address
Facts: Wikidata (CC0), as of 2026-07-09
Lincoln is the punchline of the internet's own misquote joke -- 'Don't believe everything you read on the internet: Abraham Lincoln' -- and the traffic is real: 'Better to remain silent and be thought a fool' has no Lincoln provenance, and 'Folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be' first surfaces decades after his death. The bedrock is the documented oratory: 'With malice toward none' is the Second Inaugural, delivered weeks before his assassination. Rule of thumb with Lincoln: the more it sounds like a fortune cookie, the later it entered the record.
Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.
Abraham Lincoln
I don’t know who my grandfather was. I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be.
Abraham Lincoln
I have in irrepressible desire to live till I can be assured that the world is a little better for my having lived in it.
Abraham Lincoln
I have now come to the conclusion never again to think of marrying, and for this reason; I can never be satisfied with anyone who would be blockhead enough to have me.
Abraham Lincoln
It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Abraham Lincoln
I would consent to any great evil, to avoid a greater one.
Abraham Lincoln
People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.
Abraham Lincoln
The best way to destroy your enemy is to make him your friend.
Abraham Lincoln
The Lord prefers common-looking people. That is why he makes so many of them.
Abraham Lincoln
When I do good I feel good, when I do bad I feel bad, and that’s my religion.
Abraham Lincoln
When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion.
Abraham Lincoln
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds.
Abraham Lincoln
You may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
Abraham Lincoln
And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
Abraham Lincoln