Abraham Lincoln Quotes: Famous Words on Freedom

INTRODUCTION

Abraham Lincoln quotes continue to inspire readers because they speak to timeless ideas such as freedom, leadership, equality, perseverance, Honesty, democracy, and character. As the 16th president of the United States, Lincoln expressed powerful ideas through his speeches, letters, debates, and public statements.

In this collection, you’ll find Abraham Lincoln quotes about life, freedom, success, leadership, education, slavery, democracy, war, character, friendship, faith, and more. We’ve also included short quotes, Gettysburg Address quotes, humorous sayings, and important context to help you understand what Lincoln actually meant.

Because many quotations online are incorrectly attributed to Lincoln, this guide also focuses on authenticity and historical context. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum maintains a searchable collection of Lincoln quotations, while the National Park Service provides documented quotations from his speeches and writings.

BEST ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES

Abraham Lincoln’s most memorable words cover everything from personal character to national unity. These quotations remain popular because they communicate powerful ideas in remarkably simple language.

1. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
2. “Whatever you are, be a good one.”
3. “I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.”
4. “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true.”
5. “Public sentiment is everything.”
6. “The ballot is stronger than the bullet.”
7. “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”
8. “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
9. “Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.”
10. “We are not enemies, but friends.”
11. “Important principles may, and must, be inflexible.”
12. “I do the very best I know how.”
13. “My great concern is not whether you have failed.”
14. “Nearly all men can stand adversity.”
15. “Let no young man choosing the law for a calling for a moment yield.”

FAMOUS ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES

Some Lincoln quotations became part of American history because they captured enormous political and moral ideas in only a few words.

1. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
2. “Four score and seven years ago.”
3. “All men are created equal.”
4. “We are not enemies, but friends.”
5. “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
6. “The ballot is stronger than the bullet.”
7. “Public sentiment is everything.”
8. “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”
9. “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
10. “Whatever you are, be a good one.”
11. “I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.”
12. “Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.”
13. “The will of God prevails.”
14. “Let us neither express nor cherish any hard feelings.”
15. “We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES ABOUT LIFE

Lincoln’s writings reveal a thoughtful understanding of adversity, responsibility, personal growth, and human nature.

1. “Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition.”
2. “I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed.”
3. “Half finished work generally proves to be labor lost.”
4. “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
5. “My great concern is not whether you have failed.”
6. “I do the very best I know how.”
7. “Human nature will not change.”
8. “We are never quite satisfied.”
9. “Suspicion and jealousy never did help any man.”
10. “The way for a young man to rise, is to improve himself.”
11. “Go it while you’re young!”
12. “I am not bound to succeed.”
13. “I must stand with anybody that stands right.”
14. “The truth is your truest friend.”
15. “Resolve to be honest at all events.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES ABOUT FREEDOM

Freedom was central to Lincoln’s political thought, particularly during the growing national conflict over slavery.

1. “Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.”
2. “All men everywhere could be free.”
3. “We all declare for liberty.”
4. “The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty.”
5. “The heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere.”
6. “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.”
7. “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
8. “In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free.”
9. “Our reliance is in the love of liberty.”
10. “Which God has planted in our bosoms.”
11. “Let every American, every lover of liberty.”
12. “A free people, in times of peace.”
13. “All men everywhere could be free.”
14. “The liberty which God has planted in our bosoms.”
15. “The last best hope of earth.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES ABOUT LEADERSHIP

Lincoln’s leadership was tested during one of America’s most difficult periods. His words reveal ideas about responsibility, public opinion, courage, and unity.

1. “Public sentiment is everything.”
2. “With public sentiment, nothing can fail.”
3. “Without it nothing can succeed.”
4. “Important principles may, and must, be inflexible.”
5. “We are not enemies, but friends.”
6. “Let us neither express nor cherish any hard feelings.”
7. “I shall aim as nearly as possible at perfection.”
8. “I promise you to ‘keep cool’ under all circumstances.”
9. “I must stand with anybody that stands right.”
10. “To the best of my judgment I have labored for, and not against the Union.”
11. “We do not want to dissolve the Union.”
12. “Broken by it I too may be; bow to it I never will.”
13. “The ballot is stronger than the bullet.”
14. “Public opinion is the foundation of government.”
15. “The people are the rightful masters of both Congresses and courts.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES ABOUT SUCCESS

Lincoln’s life is often associated with perseverance, political setbacks, personal development, and determination.

1. “I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.”
2. “I am not bound to win.”
3. “I am bound to be true.”
4. “I am not bound to succeed.”
5. “I do the very best I know how.”
6. “Adhere to your purpose.”
7. “If we do our duty we shall succeed.”
8. “The way for a young man to rise, is to improve himself.”
9. “Improve himself every way he can.”
10. “Half finished work generally proves to be labor lost.”
11. “You must not wait to be brought forward.”
12. “I shall at least have one friend left.”
13. “I never despair of sustaining myself before the people.”
14. “I must stand with anybody that stands right.”
15. “I will prepare, and someday my chance will come.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES ABOUT EDUCATION

Lincoln was largely self-educated, making his thoughts about learning particularly interesting to students and teachers.

1. “Education is the most important subject.”
2. “I view it as the most important subject.”
3. “The consequent advancement of civilization.”
4. “The inclination to exchange thoughts with one another.”
5. “An original impulse of our nature.”
6. “The way for a young man to rise.”
7. “Improve himself every way he can.”
8. “You must not wait to be brought forward.”
9. “The weak to grow stronger.”
10. “The ignorant, wiser.”
11. “Writing is the great invention of the world.”
12. “All nature—the whole world, material, moral, and intellectual—is a mine.”
13. “The best cure for the Blues.”
14. “Go it while you’re young!”
15. “Gather up all the shrewd wild boys about town.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES ABOUT DEMOCRACY

Lincoln’s understanding of democracy became especially important during the Civil War and his efforts to preserve the Union.

1. “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
2. “Public sentiment is everything.”
3. “The ballot is stronger than the bullet.”
4. “Elections belong to the people.”
5. “It’s their decision.”
6. “A free people, in times of peace, naturally divide into parties.”
7. “Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power.”
8. “Have the right to rise.”
9. “Shake off the existing government.”
10. “Let reverence for the Laws, be breathed by every American Mother.”
11. “Although bad Laws … should be repealed.”
12. “While they continue in force.”
13. “For the sake of example, they should be religiously observed.”
14. “The people are the rightful masters.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES ABOUT SLAVERY AND EQUALITY

Slavery and equality were among the most important subjects in Lincoln’s political career. His words need to be understood within the historical context of the nineteenth-century United States.

1. “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
2. “Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.”
3. “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.”
4. “All men are created equal.”
5. “The great fundamental principle.”
6. “Upon which our free institutions rest.”
7. “In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free.”
8. “All men everywhere could be free.”
9. “You think slavery is right and ought to be extended.”
10. “While we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted.”
11. “The only substantial difference between us.”
12. “The heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere.”
13. “The last best hope of earth.”
14. “We shall nobly save, or meanly lose.”
15. “I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES ABOUT WAR AND PEACE

Lincoln’s presidency was dominated by the Civil War. His wartime writings often combined military responsibility with appeals for reconciliation.

1. “We are not enemies, but friends.”
2. “Though passion may have strained.”
3. “It must not break our bonds of affection.”
4. “The mystic chords of memory.”
5. “Stretching from every battle-field.”
6. “To every living heart and hearthstone.”
7. “Let us strive on to finish the work we are in.”
8. “To bind up the nation’s wounds.”
9. “To care for him who shall have borne the battle.”
10. “To do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace.”
11. “The purpose of the struggle.”
12. “The Union is much older than the Constitution.”
13. “Peace does not appear so distant as it did.”
14. “I hope it will come soon.”
15. “And come to stay.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES ABOUT CHARACTER

Lincoln frequently wrote about honesty, truth, responsibility, moral principles, and personal integrity.

1. “Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.”
2. “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true.”
3. “Important principles may, and must, be inflexible.”
4. “Resolve to be honest at all events.”
5. “If you cannot be an honest lawyer.”
6. “Resolve to be honest without being a lawyer.”
7. “He who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false.”
8. “Is guilty of falsehood.”
9. “The accidental truth of the assertion.”
10. “Does not justify or excuse him.”
11. “The truth is your truest friend.”
12. “Falsehood is the worst enemy a fellow can have.”
13. “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.”
14. “I must stand with anybody that stands right.”
15. “I do the very best I know how.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES ABOUT FRIENDSHIP AND KINDNESS

Lincoln often used friendship, compassion, and reconciliation to communicate with people who disagreed with him.

1. “We are not enemies, but friends.”
2. “Let us neither express nor cherish any hard feelings.”
3. “All American citizens are brothers of a common country.”
4. “Should dwell together in the bonds of fraternal feeling.”
5. “If you would win a man to your cause.”
6. “First convince him that you are his sincere friend.”
7. “A drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.”
8. “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.”
9. “I shall at least have one friend left.”
10. “That friend shall be down inside of me.”
11. “Nothing would make me more miserable than to believe you miserable.”
12. “Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers.”
13. “We are not enemies.”
14. “Our bonds of affection.”
15. “The mystic chords of memory.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES ABOUT GOD AND FAITH

Lincoln’s religious language is complex and closely connected to the uncertainty and suffering of the Civil War era.

1. “The will of God prevails.”
2. “I have often wished that I was a more devout man than I am.”
3. “My own wisdom seemed insufficient for that day.”
4. “I have been driven many times upon my knees.”
5. “The overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”
6. “Our reliance is in the love of liberty.”
7. “Which God has planted in our bosoms.”
8. “Under a just God.”
9. “What is to be, will be.”
10. “No prayers of ours can arrest the decree.”
11. “I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures.”
12. “I have never spoken with intentional disrespect of Religion.”
13. “The will of God prevails.”
14. “The Almighty has His own purposes.”
15. “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES ABOUT WORK AND PERSEVERANCE

Lincoln’s experiences with work, law, politics, and public service made persistence a recurring theme in his life.

1. “Half finished work generally proves to be labor lost.”
2. “I do the very best I know how.”
3. “The very best I can.”
4. “I mean to keep doing so until the end.”
5. “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow.”
6. “By evading it today.”
7. “The way for a young man to rise.”
8. “Improve himself every way he can.”
9. “You must not wait to be brought forward.”
10. “Go it while you’re young!”
11. “Adhere to your purpose.”
12. “If we do our duty we shall succeed.”
13. “I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.”
14. “I am not bound to succeed.”
15. “I am bound to be true.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES FROM THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

The Gettysburg Address is perhaps the single most important source of famous Lincoln quotations. Delivered in November 1863, the speech connected the Civil War with the nation’s founding ideals and the future of democratic government.

1. “Four score and seven years ago.”
2. “Our fathers brought forth on this continent.”
3. “A new nation.”
4. “Conceived in Liberty.”
5. “Dedicated to the proposition.”
6. “All men are created equal.”
7. “We are engaged in a great civil war.”
8. “Testing whether that nation.”
9. “So conceived and so dedicated.”
10. “Can long endure.”
11. “We can not dedicate.”
12. “We can not consecrate.”
13. “We can not hallow.”
14. “The brave men, living and dead.”
15. “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

SHORT ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES

Short Lincoln quotes are particularly useful for social media captions, classroom presentations, posters, inspirational graphics, and quick reminders.

1. “Whatever you are, be a good one.”
2. “Public sentiment is everything.”
3. “The ballot is stronger than the bullet.”
4. “We are not enemies, but friends.”
5. “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
6. “I am a slow walker.”
7. “I never walk back.”
8. “The will of God prevails.”
9. “Important principles may, and must, be inflexible.”
10. “Truth is generally the best vindication.”
11. “Go it while you’re young!”
12. “Suspicion and jealousy never did help any man.”
13. “I do the very best I know how.”
14. “The people are the rightful masters.”
15. “I am bound to be true.”

FUNNY AND WITTY ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES

Lincoln was known for using humor and stories to communicate difficult ideas. His wit could make political arguments more memorable without turning them into modern jokes.

1. “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.”
2. “A drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.”
3. “The Savior of the whole world chose twelve disciples.”
4. “Even one of that small number turned out a traitor.”
5. “I promise you to ‘keep cool’ under all circumstances.”
6. “In this troublesome world, we are never quite satisfied.”
7. “I most emphatically … made a fool of myself.”
8. “Go it while you’re young!”
9. “Feeling a little poetic this evening.”
10. “An honest laborer digs coal.”
11. “The president digs abstractions.”
12. “The coal is clearly worth more than the abstractions.”
13. “No one has needed favours more than I.”
14. “Few have been less unwilling to accept them.”
15. “I have never had a feeling politically.”

Important: Modern internet jokes should not automatically be presented as Lincoln quotations. His genuine humor is more valuable when it can be connected to a historical source.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES WITH HISTORICAL CONTEXT

A quotation becomes much more meaningful when readers know when and why it was spoken.

For example, “A house divided against itself cannot stand” was not originally a generic motivational quote. Lincoln used the phrase in his 1858 speech while discussing the growing conflict over slavery and the political future of the United States.

Likewise, “We are not enemies, but friends” came from his First Inaugural Address, delivered as the country approached civil war.

And the famous words “government of the people, by the people, for the people” came from the Gettysburg Address, where Lincoln connected the sacrifices of the Civil War to the survival of democratic government.

Historical context transforms a quote from a social-media sentence into a primary-source window into Lincoln’s thinking.

ARE ALL ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES ONLINE AUTHENTIC?

No.

This is one of the most important things to understand when searching for Abraham Lincoln quotes.

A quotation can appear on hundreds of websites and still have no reliable evidence connecting it to Lincoln. Repetition is not proof of authorship.

For a trustworthy quote collection, quotations should ideally be classified as:

Attribution	Meaning
Verified	Reliable historical evidence connects the quotation to Lincoln.
Attributed	Lincoln is commonly credited, but the origin is uncertain.
Misattributed	Evidence indicates that Lincoln did not say it.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum maintains a searchable quotation database, while the National Park Service provides quotations from Lincoln’s speeches and letters.

This verification-first approach is one of the strongest ways Quoteigo can differentiate itself from generic quote websites.

FAMOUS QUOTES OFTEN MISATTRIBUTED TO LINCOLN

Several popular motivational sayings are frequently placed under Lincoln’s name despite weak or nonexistent evidence.

“The best way to predict your future is to create it.”

This saying is widely attributed to Lincoln online, but there is no reliable evidence that he said it.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

This is another popular internet attribution. Researchers have traced versions of the expression to much later sources, making the Lincoln attribution doubtful.

“Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”

This quotation is also frequently associated with Lincoln, but its historical attribution is questionable.

The lesson is simple: a quotation should be verified before being presented as an authentic historical statement.

WHY ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S WORDS STILL MATTER

Lincoln’s quotations remain relevant because the subjects he addressed are still part of modern life.

His words explore:

• Freedom
• Equality
• Leadership
• Democracy
• Education
• Character
• Perseverance
• Responsibility
• Friendship
• War
• Peace
• Political disagreement
• Human nature
• Moral responsibility

What makes these quotations especially powerful is the historical setting behind them. Lincoln was writing and speaking during a period of enormous national conflict, making his words about unity, liberty, democracy, and responsibility particularly significant.

HOW TO USE ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES TODAY

For Students

Use verified quotations as starting points for history assignments, essays, and presentations.

For Teachers

Pair quotations with the original speech or letter so students can study historical context.

For Social Media

Short, accurately attributed quotations can make strong educational or inspirational captions.

For Leadership

Lincoln’s words about responsibility, public opinion, courage, and disagreement can provide useful leadership lessons.

For Writers

Use quotations about freedom, democracy, equality, and character when discussing historical or political themes.

For Personal Reflection

His words about perseverance, responsibility, honesty, and adversity can still encourage personal reflection.

PEOPLE ALSO ASK 

CONCLUSION

Abraham Lincoln’s words continue to inspire because they address timeless ideas such as freedom, equality, leadership, democracy, perseverance, honesty, and character. But the real value of these quotations comes from understanding what Lincoln said, when he said it, and why he said it.

If you are looking for a Lincoln quote to inspire, teach, write, or share, use this collection as a starting point—and always consider the historical Context and authenticity behind the words.

For Quoteigo, the strongest strategy is not simply publishing more quotations than competitors. It is creating a trustworthy, organized, context-rich collection that helps readers find the right Abraham Lincoln quote and understand its meaning.

Save this page for later, share your favorite Lincoln quote, and explore more historical and inspirational quote collections on Quoteigo.