“I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”

“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.”

“I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day.”

“It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.”

“I am a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn't have the heart to let him down...”

“Executive Mansion,Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.Dear Madam,--I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,A. Lincoln”

“I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.”