"If this is victory, then our hands..." - Quote by J R R Tolkien

“The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command.”

“The main mark of modern governments is that we do not know who governs, de facto any more than de jure. We see the politician and not his backer; still less the backer of the backer; or, what is most important of all, the banker of the backer.”

“For you do not yet know the strengths of your hearts, and you cannot foresee what each may meet on the road.”

“I came, saw, and overcame.”

“What's a victory when its hollow?”

“I have the utmost confidence that through your efforts we will eventually beat the hell out of those bastards - You name them; I'll shoot them!”

“For myself the delay [in assuming the office of the President] may be compared with a reprieve; for in confidence I assure you, with the world it would obtain little credit that my movements to the chair of Government will be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution: so unwilling am I, in the evening of a life nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful abode for an Ocean of difficulties, without that competency of political skill, abilities and inclination which is necessary to manage the helm.”

“Hatred is a heavy burden. It sinks the heart deep in the breast, and lies like a tombstone on all joys.”

“God knows that any man who would seek the presidency of the United States is a fool for his pains. The burden is all but intolerable, and the things that I have to do are just as much as the human spirit can carry.”