A Bluestocking Knits

To mark the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration on this date in 1861, here are a few quotations from the man himself, and one about him:

“Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.” [Lincoln’s Peoria speech, 16 October 1854]

“To give victory to the right, not bloody bullets, but peaceful ballots only, are necessary.” [From a speech given 18 May 1858]

“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.” [From a remark made to Joseph Gillespie, reported in a letter from Gillespie to the Hagerstown, Maryland Herald and Torch Light, 15 March 1876]

“Nothing discloses real character like the use of power…. [If] you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except upon the side of mercy.” [From an 1895 lecture by Robert G. Ingersoll about Lincoln]