5 Powerful Quotes from Abraham Lincoln About Life
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, is one of the few U.S. presidents that is almost universally well-liked. He is most famous for leading the North in the civil war against the South, which led to the abolishment of slavery. However, Honest Abe is a very interesting character in many regards. For instance, he grew his iconic beard because he found his own face to be ugly!
Known for his qualities of being honest, trustworthy and logical, Lincoln has many powerful and thoughtful quotes that are a pleasure to read, interpret and analyze. His wisdom truly shines throughout his words and it is easy to understand why he was voted as the greatest president of all time in a 2020 poll. He was introverted and soft-spoken, but he picked his words very carefully, and therefore they held a lot of power.
Here are 5 of Abraham Lincoln’s best quotes:
- “Folks are usually as happy as they make their minds up to be.”
- “The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.”
- “I am a slow walker, but I never walk backwards.”
- “Those who look for the bad in people will surely find it.”
- “I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.”
1. Lincoln on Happiness
“Folks are usually as happy as they make their minds up to be.”
At the end of the day, happiness is a choice. If you tell yourself that you are miserable, sad, depressed, etc., guess what? You will be! The opposite also works. If you tell yourself you are happy, excited about life, fortunate, etc. those words will begin to become a reality for you.
Don’t get me wrong, there will be days and moments where you will be down in the dumps. That is a part of life. However, if your constant mindset is happiness, you will generally become an overall happy person.
Remember, happiness is a choice! Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy.
2. Lincoln on Enemies
“The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.”
I’ll be honest, the first time I heard this quote I was in elementary school and I was utterly confused. 7 year old me could not comprehend the idea of turning an enemy into a friend. How would that destroy my enemy? Do I befriend them to get close enough to them to destroy them? Kidding, sorta. The quote went over my head at the time, but I could feel the amount of wisdom it carried, even then.
We have all come across people who we do not like, and who possibly do not like us either. Whether or not you would consider them an enemy I will leave it up to you. In school, in the workplace, even in social circles there will be people with who our personalities just do not mesh. Maybe you even get a bad vibe from them or they seem like they are out to get you. Unfortunately, this happens.
When you come across somebody like this there is usually 2 beneficial things that you can do:
- Distance yourself from them
#1 is a solid strategy if possible. If somebody is putting you down, the best thing you can typically do is remove them from your life. However, this isn’t always possible. For example, if you don’t get along with a co-worker it may not always be practical to avoid them. - Befriend them
Your second option is to befriend them. Another great Abraham Lincoln quote that goes hand in hand with this one:
“I do not like that man. I must get to know him better.”
Every person often has a powerful, unique story that has made them who they are today as well as shaped their values and outlook on life. To dismiss somebody after an initial conversation with them is quite short-sighted.
Imagine if you were forced to spend an entire month together with one person – let alone an enemy – nonstop. The beginning might feel brutal, but eventually, you would learn a lot about this person. You would get a better understanding of who they are, and more importantly why they are the way that they are. It would most likely create newfound respect for that person and through time and a sense of understanding become OK with who they are.
The truth is, we often don’t have the time, or care enough, to do this. We typically decide fairly quickly that we do not like somebody and that thought becomes our reality. It may even get to the point where every single action they do annoys us to no end. However, if we were willing to put the time and energy into getting to know them we would probably realize that they are not a terrible person, and maybe they are even similar to ourselves. We might even make a new friend out of it!
3. Lincoln on Progress
“I am a slow walker, but I never walk backwards.”
This quote really resonated with me. Sometimes I might feel like I am progressing too slowly, or something is taking too long to be accomplished. This can be frustrating and annoying. It is important to remember though that anything worth doing will not be easy and will take time to accomplish. After all, a small step is better than no step.
As long as you are making progress and moving forward, no matter how slowly, you are on the right path. Continuing with the walking metaphor – everybody has different size steps they take, different speeds they walk, hell even different size shoes they wear. As long as you are walking forward in the right direction, you should be proud of yourself.
4. Lincoln on People
“Those who look for the bad in people will surely find it.”
This quote shows you how important your mindset is. If you think people are generally and inherently bad, you will continue to find the bad in people. You will see their flaws and focus on their negative characteristics. This is unfortunately a truth of life.
However, the opposite is also very true. If you search for the good in people, you will certainly find it. Focus on the positive – on another person’s kindness, the good deeds they commit, and how they help their fellow human.
Say you are in the market for a car, and you have your eyes set on a red Volkswagen Jetta. Do you know what will happen next? You will start to see red Jetta’s everywhere you go! It’s not because more red Jetta’s have magically appeared from out of the abyss. It’s because your mind is now consciously aware and focused on that specific kind of car. It works the same exact way with people. If we focus on bad traits we will surely find them. However, if we focus on good traits, they will present themselves.
I believe it is important to look for the good in people. You might be asking yourself, even for those who are total jerks? Yes, especially for those kinds of people! They need somebody to believe in them more than anybody. Treat them with kindness and with the belief that they are righteous and you may be surprised to see that is the way they will begin to act.
5. Lincoln on Learning
“I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.”
Wisdom comes from having experience. That is why typically the older you get, the more wisdom you have. Also, the more events, difficulties, and obstacles you face the more wisdom you will probably have. However, I do think wisdom goes deeper than this. Wisdom does not come just from experiences. Wisdom comes from learning from your experiences. If you made the same mistakes over and over again hardly anyone would call you wise.
You must continue to learn. From your own experiences, from other’s experiences, from books, from anything and everything. That is how you can truly be wise. A man who does not learn from his experiences, both good and bad, will never be a wise man. A man who does not want to learn just for the sake of knowledge will also never be wise.
Lincoln had little formal education and was mostly self-taught. He loved to read books and gain knowledge from them. He constantly had a student mentality to learn and grow, so it makes sense that he would look down on those that do not share the same drive to become knowledgeable. Especially those in more fortunate situations. After all, how much can a friend really offer you if they have the same amount of knowledge today that they had 5 years ago?
Lincoln understood the importance of learning and surrounding himself with like-minded people who have the same desire for knowledge and wisdom as he did. It is a great lesson to keep in mind.
Which of these quotes was your favorite? Is there another famous Honest Abe quote that I missed? Let me know at eric@ericgolban.com
Best,
Eric
I especially found the making enemies friends quote to be powerful. Though, my experience is that sometimes “enemies” drift in and out of being new found friends.
I agree, I think that is one of his most powerful quotes of all time. Every time I hear it, it makes me reflect. To your point, I would say that you don’t need to form an unbreakable friendship with your “enemy” but just not having them as the title of “enemy” is enough of a win. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
This is truly some very powerful quotes that should surely be reconized and used