Alex Ayres - The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln: An A-Z Compendium of Quotes from the Most Eloquent of American Presidents

Lincolns jokes were legendaryand so was his honesty, his passion against slavery, and his self-deprecation about his homeliness. This collection brings a fascinating Lincoln to life. Youll find accounts about his grief over the death of his beloved Anne Rutledge, his startling premonition about his assassination, and the challenges of the Civil War, which pushed Lincoln to blistering satire as well as to sorrow. Browsing through this unique volume youll encounter a man and his times in all their complexity, including selections like:

THE WIT AND WISDOM
OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

ALEX AYRES is the editor of The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain (also available in a Meridian edition) and a former editor of Running Times and The Harvard Lampoon. His epigrams have appeared in Forbes.

The Wit and Wisdom

of

ABRAHAM
LINCOLN

EDITED BY
ALEX AYRES

A MERIDIAN BOOK

MERIDIAN

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England.

First published by Meridian, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First Printing, February 1992

Copyright Alex Ayres, 1992

All rights reserved

REGISTERED TRADEMARKMARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Lincoln, Abraham, 18091865.

The wit and wisdom of Abraham Lincoln / edited by Alex Ayres.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-1-101-65616-7

1. Lincoln, Abraham, 18091865Quotations. 2. Lincoln, Abraham, 18091865Humor. I. Title.

E457.99.L55 1992

973.7092dc20

91-25678

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To the towering spirit

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to Abraham Lincolnarguably our greatest president but unquestionably our funniest presidentfor the inspiration. Thanks to Pam Ayres, Hy Cohen, Arnold Dolin, Hugh Rawson, Julia Moskin, the Lincoln scholars who have kept it alive, the Lincoln lovers who have passed it on, and thanks to youthe readerfor taking it in your hand, if only for a moment.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Abraham Lincoln is remembered as a tragic figure, a martyred emancipator. But he is also a great comic figure. Comedy was married to tragedy in his life and his personality.

It was the wit and wisdom of Abraham Lincoln that first won him the hearts of the people. Prior to his election as president in 1860 he never held a higher post than that of a one-term Illinois congressman. But people trusted Lincoln instinctively because he seemed wiser than other men, and they liked him because he was funnier than other men.

Abraham Lincoln was a great writer and a great orator as well as a great leader. He deserves a place in American literature as well as history. However, he wrote no books, he composed no memoirs, he left behind no magnum opus. The quotations cited in this book are drawn from a variety of sources, both oral and written.

The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln includes both stories told about Lincoln and stories told by Lincoln.

No president has had more stories told about him than Lincoln. Many of these stories have passed from American history into American folklore. Sometimes it is hard to separate Lincoln the historical figure from Lincoln the folk hero. He is shown here in both roles.

No president told more stories than Lincoln. He was the storytelling president. He used anecdotes the way Christ is said to have used parables, to make a point, to illustrate a principle. He used humor the way Mark Twain used humor, to break down barriers and throw light on the truth.

Ultimately its for you to decide if the stories told about Lincoln are true and if the stories told by Lincoln contain truth.

The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln is for anyone who would like to know what Lincoln said to usand what he is saying to us today.

ON ABRAHAM LINCOLN

There lies the most perfect ruler of men who ever lived.

Edwin M. Stanton

Lincolns Secretary of War

Lincoln, with all his foibles, is the greatest character since Christ.

John Hay

Lincolns private secretary

Lincoln is the best loved man that ever trod this continent.

Theodore Cuyler

Clergyman and author

If one would know the greatness of Lincoln one should listen to the stories which are told about him in other parts of the world. I have been in wild places where one hears the name of America uttered with such mystery as if it were some heaven or hellbut I heard this only in connection with the name Lincoln.

Leo Tolstoy

But you have not told us a syllable about the greatest general and greatest ruler of the world. We want to know something about him. He was a hero. He spoke with a voice of thunder, he laughed like the sunrise and his deeds were strong as the rock and as sweet as the fragrance of roses. He was so great that he even forgave the crimes of his greatest enemies and shook brotherly hands with those who had plotted against his life. His name was Lincoln and the country in which he lived is called America. Tell us of that man.