“One-time rival and subsequent usurper Secretary of State Seward finally settled into an assessment of Lincoln that, "His confidence and compassion increase every day.”

“[One of the biggest differences between him and his rivals for the Republican nomination was] "every one of them wants to torture people. It's amazing.”

“My husband is not the secretary of state, I am.”

“( a court officer's assessment of a particularly obnoxious young defendant...)"His mother shoulda ate him while his head was still soft."This kills me every time...”

“I was confident that I was a special person. But time slowly chips away at life. People don't just die when their time comes. They gradually die away, from the inside. And finally the day comes when you have to settle accounts. Nobody can escape it. People have to pay the price for what they've received. I have only just learned that truth.”

“And Lincoln, as would be evidenced throughout his presidency, was a master of timing.”