Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

Truth is generally the best vindication against slander

Beware of rashness, but with energy, and sleepless vigilance, go forward and give us victories

Whenever there is a conflict between human rights and property rights, human rights must prevail

We must free the slaves or be ourselves subdued. The slaves were undeniably a element of strength to those who had their service, and we must decide whether that element should be with us or against us. Emancipation, will strike at the heart of the rebellion Said to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles

If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend

Politicians are a set of men who have interests aside from the interests of the people and who, to say the most of them, are, taken as a mass, at least one long step removed from honest men

Important principles may and must be inflexible

Marriage is neither heaven nor hell, it is simply purgatory

If there is anything that a man can do well, I say let him do it. Give him a chance.