"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."
"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?"
"Let no feeling of discouragement preyupon you, and in the end you are sure to succeed."
"Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in."
"In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free - honorable alike in that we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth."
"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."