"I am not bound to win, but..." - Quote by Abraham Lincoln

“Wise statesmen ... established these great self-evident truths, that when in the distant future some man, some faction, some interest, should set up the doctrine that none but rich men, or none but white men, were entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, their posterity should look up again at the Declaration of Independence and take courage to renew the battle which their fathers began.”

“Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition.”

“Familiarize yourself with the chains of bondage and you prepare your own limbs to wear them.”

“If there is any better way to teach virtue than by practicing it, I do not know it.”

“Our words must be judged by our deeds; and in striving for a lofty ideal we must use practical methods; and if we cannot attain all at one leap, we must advance towards it step by step, reasonably content so long as we do actually make some progress in the right direction.”

“Character is much easier kept than recovered.”

“How can you come to know yourself? Never by thinking, always by doing. Try to do your duty, and you'll know right away what you amount to.”

“The citizen who thinks he sees that the commonwealth's political clothes are worn out, and yet holds his peace and does not agitate for a new suit, is disloyal, he is a traitor. That he may be the only one who thinks he sees this decay, does not excuse him: it is his duty to agitate anyway, and it is the duty of others to vote him down if they do not see the matter as he does.”

“The way to transmute your iron duty into gold in everyone's eyes is this: always deliver more than you promise.”