The Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln

The Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln consists of extracts from the writings and speeches of the sixteenth president grouped by subject into four major sections: Politics, Civil War, Slavery and Emancipation, and Private Life. As with my previous volumes in the Philosophical Library series—The Wisdom of John Adams and The Wisdom of Thomas Jefferson—the quotations that I have selected are arranged chronologically, thus giving the reader an opportunity to follow Lincoln’s public and private thoughts against the backdrop of current events. Brief introductions help to place the quotes in context. Whereas many collections of quotes pare much of the surrounding material away to expose pithy one-liners, I have endeavored to leave as much of the original selection intact as is necessary to understand Lincoln’s full reasoning on the matter at hand. As a further aid to the reader, a timeline with important biographical and historical events has been included.