As a general principle you should not force young men to do their duty, but let them do it voluntarily and thereby develop their characters..

The time is not come for impartial history. If the truth were told just now, it would not be credited..

Death, in its silent sure march is fast gathering those whom I have longest loved, so that when he shall knock at my door, I will more willingly foll….

Such an executive officer the sun never shone on. I have but to show him my design, and I know that it can be done, it will be done...Straight as the….

Everyone should do all in his power to collect and disseminate the truth, in the hope that it may find a place in history and descend to posterity. H….

Every student must be a gentleman..

I can anticipate no greater calamity for the country than the dissolution of the Union. It would be an accumulation of all the evils we complain of, ….

I did only what my duty demanded. I could have taken no other course without dishonor..

I pray that on this day [Christmas] when only peace and good-will are preached to mankind, better thoughts may fill the hearts of our enemies and tur….

Let danger never turn you aside from the pursuit of honor or the service to your country ... Know that death is inevitable and the fame of virtue is ….

Marry...into a family that will enable your children to feel proud of both sides of the house..

We must...submit ourselves in adversity to the will of a merciful God as cheerfully as in prosperity..

I tremble for my country when I hear of confidence expressed in me. I know too well my weakness, that our only hope is in God..

Ideas are easy to conceive, less easy to execute..

There is scarcely anything that is right that we cannot hope to accomplish by labor and perseverance. But the first must be earnest and the second un….

What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to f….

Mr. Blair, I look upon secession as anarchy. If I owned the four millions of slaves in the South, I would sacrifice them all to the Union; but how ca….

My heart bleeds at the death of every one of our gallant men..

My experience through life has convinced me that, while moderation and temperance in all things are commendable and beneficial, abstinence from spiri….

I think it better to do right, even if we suffer in so doing, than to incur the reproach of our consciences and posterity..

You must study to be frank with the world: frankness is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do on every occasion, and take it….