Quotes · Skopia

218 quotes

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. — Abraham Lincoln · 1865 We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. — Abraham Lincoln · 1861 But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. — Abraham Lincoln · 1863 Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." — Abraham Lincoln · 1865 It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. — Abraham Lincoln · 1865 In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. — Ronald Reagan · 1981 All 36 quotes →

Political theory18 quotes

In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. — Ronald Reagan · 1981 A free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular. — Adlai Stevenson · 1952 The ballot is stronger than the bullet. — Abraham Lincoln · 1856 If all men were just, there still would be some, though not so much, need of government. — Abraham Lincoln · 1854 To correct the evils, great and small, which spring from want of sympathy and from positive enmity, among strangers, as nations or as individuals, is one of the highest functions of civilization. — Abraham Lincoln · 1859 The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help. — Ronald Reagan · 1986 All 18 quotes →

American Civil War17 quotes

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. — Abraham Lincoln · 1865 We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. — Abraham Lincoln · 1861 But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. — Abraham Lincoln · 1863 Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." — Abraham Lincoln · 1865 It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. — Abraham Lincoln · 1865 A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. — Abraham Lincoln · 1858 All 17 quotes →

Politics15 quotes

If all men were just, there still would be some, though not so much, need of government. — Abraham Lincoln · 1854 There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law. — Abraham Lincoln · 1838 To correct the evils, great and small, which spring from want of sympathy and from positive enmity, among strangers, as nations or as individuals, is one of the highest functions of civilization. — Abraham Lincoln · 1859 Yet in all our rejoicing let us neither express, nor cherish, any harsh feeling towards any citizen who, by his vote, has differed with us. Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers of a common country, and should dwell together in the bonds of fraternal feeling. — Abraham Lincoln · 1860 You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. — Rahm Emanuel · 2008 Hope has never trickled down. It has always sprung up. — Studs Terkel · 2003 All 15 quotes →

Slavery15 quotes

Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." — Abraham Lincoln · 1865 It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. — Abraham Lincoln · 1865 A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. — Abraham Lincoln · 1858 If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. — Abraham Lincoln · 1864 Without slavery the rebellion could never have existed; without slavery it could not continue. — Abraham Lincoln · 1862 I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. — Abraham Lincoln · 1862 All 15 quotes →

Government11 quotes

If all men were just, there still would be some, though not so much, need of government. — Abraham Lincoln · 1854 Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. — Abraham Lincoln · 1848 To correct the evils, great and small, which spring from want of sympathy and from positive enmity, among strangers, as nations or as individuals, is one of the highest functions of civilization. — Abraham Lincoln · 1859 The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help. — Ronald Reagan · 1986 While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in the short space of four years. — Abraham Lincoln · 1861 This government was instituted to secure the blessings of freedom, and…slavery is an unqualified evil to the negro, to the white man, to the soil, and to the State. — Abraham Lincoln · 1858 All 11 quotes →

Freedom10 quotes

A free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular. — Adlai Stevenson · 1952 Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. — Ronald Reagan · 1961 No arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. — Ronald Reagan · 1981 In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free—honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last, best hope of earth. — Abraham Lincoln · 1862 Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things. They're also free to live their lives and do wonderful things. And that's what's going to happen here. — Donald Rumsfeld · 2003 This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it. — Abraham Lincoln · 1859 All 10 quotes →

America6 quotes

At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide. — Abraham Lincoln · 1838 We're too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We're not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. — Ronald Reagan · 1981 When the first President, George Washington, placed his hand upon the Bible, he stood less than a single day's journey by horseback from raw, untamed wilderness. There were 4 million Americans in a union of 13 States. Today, we are 60 times as many in a union of 50 States. We've lighted the world with our inventions, gone to the aid of mankind wherever in the world there was a cry for help, journeyed to the Moon and safely returned. So much has changed, and yet we stand together as we did two centuries ago. — Ronald Reagan · 1985 This is a beautiful country. — John Brown · 1859 I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. — John Brown · 1859 And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was 8 years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home. — Ronald Reagan · 1989

Art6 quotes

Entertainment is about the way things should be. Art is about the way they are. — Roger Ebert · 2010 Art is not a thing-it is a way. — Elbert Hubbard · 1908 I am for an art that tells you the time of day, or where such and such a street is. I am for an art that helps old ladies across the street. — Claes Oldenburg · 1961 Art has something to do with the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos. A stillness which characterizes prayer, too, and the eye of the storm... An arrest of attention in the midst of distraction. — Saul Bellow · 1967 Art has always been the raft on to which we climb to save our sanity. — Dorothea Tanning · 2002 The erotic or the sexual is the root of "art"; its first impulse. — Claes Oldenburg

Equality6 quotes

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. — Abraham Lincoln · 1863 I hold that if the Almighty had ever made a set of men that should do all the eating and none of the work, he would have made them with mouths only and no hands, and if he had ever made another class that he intended should do all the work and none of the eating, he would have made them without mouths and with all hands. — Abraham Lincoln · 1859 A man who denies to other men equality of rights is hardly worthy of freedom; but I would give even to him all the rights which I claim for myself. — Abraham Lincoln · 1906 As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy. — Abraham Lincoln · 1858 There is no reason in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. — Abraham Lincoln · 1858 This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it. — Abraham Lincoln · 1859

Cold War5 quotes

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! — Ronald Reagan · 1987 An evil empire. — Ronald Reagan · 1983 We have listened to the wisdom in an old Russian maxim. And I'm sure you're familiar with it, Mr. General Secretary…The maxim is…trust, but verify. — Ronald Reagan · 1987 My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes. — Ronald Reagan · 1984 We're especially not going to tolerate these attacks from outlaw states run by the strangest collection of misfits, looney tunes, and squalid criminals since the advent of the Third Reich. — Ronald Reagan · 1985

War5 quotes

War, at the best, is terrible, and this war of ours, in its magnitude and in its duration, is one of the most terrible. — Abraham Lincoln · 1864 Sometime they'll give a war and nobody will come. — Carl Sandburg · 1936 Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo. Shovel them under and let me work- I am the grass; I cover all. — Carl Sandburg · 1918 Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose—and you allow him to make war at pleasure. — Abraham Lincoln · 1848 As you know, you go to war with the army you have. They're not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time. — Donald Rumsfeld · 2004

Capitalism4 quotes

Business is war. It's dog eat dog, rat eat rat. If my competitor were drowning, I'd walk over and I'd put a hose right in his mouth. — Ray Kroc · 2016 Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection as any other rights. — Abraham Lincoln · 1861 These capitalists generally act harmoniously, and in concert, to fleece the people, and now, that they have got into a quarrel with themselves, we are called upon to appropriate the people's money to settle the quarrel. — Abraham Lincoln · 1837 Freedom and incentives unleash the drive and entrepreneurial genius that are the core of human progress. — Ronald Reagan · 1985

Human nature4 quotes

If all men were just, there still would be some, though not so much, need of government. — Abraham Lincoln · 1854 Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man's nature—opposition to it, is [in?] his love of justice. — Abraham Lincoln · 1854 But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated. — Ernest Hemingway · 1952 Everyone behaves badly...Give them the proper chance. — Ernest Hemingway · 1926

Iraq War4 quotes

Now, you're thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe. — Donald Rumsfeld · 2003 Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things. They're also free to live their lives and do wonderful things. And that's what's going to happen here. — Donald Rumsfeld · 2003 As you know, you go to war with the army you have. They're not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time. — Donald Rumsfeld · 2004 We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat. — Donald Rumsfeld · 2003

Limited government4 quotes

In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. — Ronald Reagan · 1981 We are a nation that has a government—not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth. Our government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government, which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed. — Ronald Reagan · 1981 Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: "We the People." "We the People" tell the government what to do; it doesn't tell us."We the People" are the driver; the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which "We the People" tell the government what it is allowed to do."We the People" are free. — Ronald Reagan · 1989 And I hope we have once again reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts. — Ronald Reagan · 1989

Aging3 quotes

Years ago we discovered the exact point, the dead center of middle age. It occurs when you are too young to take up golf and too old to rush up the net. — Franklin P. Adams · 1944 I can't stand it to think my life is going so fast and I'm not really living it. — Ernest Hemingway · 1926 Don't you ever get the feeling that all your life is going by and you're not taking advantage of it? Do you realize you've lived nearly half the time you have to live already? — Ernest Hemingway · 1926

American experiment3 quotes

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. — Abraham Lincoln · 1861 If all do not join now to save the good old ship of the Union on this voyage, nobody will have a chance to pilot her on another voyage. — Abraham Lincoln · 1861 Our New Beginning is a continuation of that beginning created two centuries ago when, for the first time in history, government, the people said, was not our master, it is our servant; its only power that which we the people allow it to have. — Ronald Reagan · 1985

Citizen and state3 quotes

We are a nation that has a government—not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth. Our government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government, which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed. — Ronald Reagan · 1981 Our New Beginning is a continuation of that beginning created two centuries ago when, for the first time in history, government, the people said, was not our master, it is our servant; its only power that which we the people allow it to have. — Ronald Reagan · 1985 It's not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work—work with us, not over us; to stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it. — Ronald Reagan · 1981

Democracy3 quotes

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy. — Abraham Lincoln · 1858 Since the turn of the century, the number of democracies in the world has grown fourfold. Human freedom is on the march, and nowhere more so than in our own hemisphere. Freedom is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit. People, worldwide, hunger for the right of self-determination, for those inalienable rights that make for human dignity and progress. — Ronald Reagan · 1985 The cure for the ills of Democracy is more Democracy. — Jane Addams · 1902

Elections3 quotes

Yet in all our rejoicing let us neither express, nor cherish, any harsh feeling towards any citizen who, by his vote, has differed with us. Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers of a common country, and should dwell together in the bonds of fraternal feeling. — Abraham Lincoln · 1860 Next Tuesday all of you will go to the polls, will stand there in the polling place and make a decision. I think when you make that decision it might be well if you would ask yourself: Are you better off than you were four years ago? — Ronald Reagan · 1980 Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody. — Franklin P. Adams · 1944

Law3 quotes

The intention of the lawgiver is the law. — Abraham Lincoln · 1861 Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser—in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough. — Abraham Lincoln · 1850 Let every man remember that to violate the law is to trample on the blood of his father and to tear the character of his own and his children's liberty. — Abraham Lincoln · 1838

Life3 quotes

I can't stand it to think my life is going so fast and I'm not really living it. — Ernest Hemingway · 1926 Don't you ever get the feeling that all your life is going by and you're not taking advantage of it? Do you realize you've lived nearly half the time you have to live already? — Ernest Hemingway · 1926 I'm a little bit, you know, seat of my pants, I try to be alert and available... For life to happen to you. We're living this life, we’re in this life, and if you’re not available, the sort of ordinary time goes past and you didn’t live it... But if you’re available, then life gets huge... You're really living it. — Bill Murray · 2014

Living life to the fullest3 quotes

Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters. — Ernest Hemingway · 1926 I can't stand it to think my life is going so fast and I'm not really living it. — Ernest Hemingway · 1926 I'm a little bit, you know, seat of my pants, I try to be alert and available... For life to happen to you. We're living this life, we’re in this life, and if you’re not available, the sort of ordinary time goes past and you didn’t live it... But if you’re available, then life gets huge... You're really living it. — Bill Murray · 2014

Political division3 quotes

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. — Abraham Lincoln · 1861 A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. — Abraham Lincoln · 1858 Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other; but the different parts of our country cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to face, and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. — Abraham Lincoln · 1861

Political progress3 quotes

I was born by the river In a little tent And just like the river I've been runnin' ever since It's been a long, a long time comin' But I know a change gon' come. — Sam Cooke · 1964 There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law. — Abraham Lincoln · 1838 Hope has never trickled down. It has always sprung up. — Studs Terkel · 2003

Progress3 quotes

Ooh, child, things are gonna get easier Ooh child, things'll get brighter. — The Five Stairsteps · 1970 Once a new technology rolls over you, if you're not part of the steamroller, you're part of the road. — Stewart Brand · 1987 Freedom and incentives unleash the drive and entrepreneurial genius that are the core of human progress. — Ronald Reagan · 1985

Purpose of government3 quotes

To correct the evils, great and small, which spring from want of sympathy and from positive enmity, among strangers, as nations or as individuals, is one of the highest functions of civilization. — Abraham Lincoln · 1859 This government was instituted to secure the blessings of freedom, and…slavery is an unqualified evil to the negro, to the white man, to the soil, and to the State. — Abraham Lincoln · 1858 One legislator accused me of having a nineteenth-century attitude on law and order. That is a totally false charge. I have an eighteenth-century attitude. That is when the Founding Fathers made it clear that the safety of law-abiding citizens should be one of the government's primary concerns. — Ronald Reagan · 1973

Rule of law3 quotes

To correct the evils, great and small, which spring from want of sympathy and from positive enmity, among strangers, as nations or as individuals, is one of the highest functions of civilization. — Abraham Lincoln · 1859 Let every man remember that to violate the law is to trample on the blood of his father and to tear the character of his own and his children's liberty. — Abraham Lincoln · 1838 Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law. — John Paul Stevens · 2000

The human condition3 quotes

The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry. — Ernest Hemingway · 1929 We travel together, passengers on a little space ship, dependent on its vulnerable reserves of air and soil; all committed for our safety to its security and peace; preserved from annihilation only by the care, the work, and, I will say, the love we give our fragile craft. We cannot maintain it half fortunate, half miserable, half confident, half despairing, half slave-to the ancient enemies of man-half free in a liberation of resources undreamed of until this day. No craft, no crew can travel safely with such vast contradictions. On their resolution depends the survival for us all. — Adlai Stevenson · 1965 The people will live on. The learning and blundering people will live on. They will be tricked and sold and again sold And go back to the nourishing earth for rootholds. — Carl Sandburg · 1936

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