"Freedom is not the right to do..." - Quote by Abraham Lincoln
Freedom is not the right to do what we want, but what we ought
More by Abraham Lincoln
“Free labor has the inspiration of hope; pure slavery has no hope.”
“This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no slave.”
“We must settle this question now -- whether in a free government the minority have the right to break it up whenever they choose. If we fail, it will go far to prove the incapability of the people to govern themselves.”
More on Freedom
“No longer virtuous no longer free; is a Maxim as true with regard to a private Person as a Common-wealth.”
“Twice two makes four seems to me simply a piece of insolence. Twice two makes four is a pert coxcomb who stands with arms akimbo barring your path and spitting. I admit that twice two makes four is an excellent thing, but if we are to give everything its due, twice two makes five is sometimes a very charming thing too.”
“I watched, along with all of you, as the tens of thousands of our people stood patiently in long queues for many hours. Some sleeping on the open ground overnight waiting to cast this momentous vote.”
More on Duty
“Diffidence in an officer is a good mark because he will always endeavor to bring himself up to what he conceives to be the full line of his duty.”
“But as to the affection which anyone may have for us, it is the first demand of duty that we do most for him who loves us most; but we should measure affection, not like youngsters, by the ardour of its passion, but rather by its strength and constancy.”
“The sister's faceFell all in wrinkles of responsibility.She wanted to do right. She'd have to think.”