I am like a man so busy in letting rooms in one end of his house, that he can't stop to put out the fire that is burning the other.
Abraham LincolnRead
I believe, if we take habitual drunkards as a class, their heads and their hearts will bear an advantageous comparison with those of any other class. There seems ever to have been a proneness in the brilliant and warm-blooded to fall into this vice.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Lincoln suggests that habitual drunkards, despite their vice, possess qualities that can be favorable compared to other people.
In this quote, Abraham Lincoln reflects on the complexity of human behavior and the tendencies of certain individuals, particularly those who are passionate or brilliant, to succumb to vices like drinking. He implies that while alcoholism is often seen as a negative attribute, it may also be associated with deeper emotional and intellectual qualities, sparking a discussion on the nature of vice and the human experience.
Themes
AlcoholismViceHuman NatureBrillianceVices
In practice
Example use cases
During a seminar on addiction, referencing Lincoln's quote could highlight the complexities of human behavior.
More from Abraham Lincoln
All quotes βSir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.
Abraham LincolnRead
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
Abraham LincolnRead
How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.
Abraham LincolnRead
For it has been said, all that a man hath will he give for his life; and while all contribute of their substance the soldier puts his life at stake, and often yields it up in his country's cause. The highest merit, then is due to the soldier.
Abraham LincolnRead
And having thus chosen our course, without guile, and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear, and with manly hearts.
Abraham LincolnRead
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In here, the human bosom -- mine, yours, everybody's -- there isn't just one soul. There's a lot of souls. But there are two main ones, the real soul and a pretender soul. Now! Every man realizes that he has to love something or somebody. He feels that he must go outward. 'If thou canst not love, what art thou?' Are you with me?
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All political theories assume, of course, that most individuals are very ignorant. Those who plead for liberty differ from the rest in that they include among the ignorant themselves as well as the wisest. Compared with the totality of knowledge which is continually utilized in the evolution of a dynamic civilization, the difference between the knowledge that the wisest and that the most ignorant individual can deliberately employ is comparatively insignificant.
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Do you know that hope sometimes consists only of a question without an answer?
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The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing...is a vice so mean and low, without any temptation, that every man of sense and character detests and despises it.
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To talk of immaterial existences is to talk of nothings. To say that the human soul, angels, god, are immaterial, is to say they are nothings, or that there is no god, no angels, no soul. I cannot reason otherwise: but I believe I am supported in my creed of materialism by Locke, Tracy, and Stewart. At what age of the Christian church this heresy of immaterialism, this masked atheism, crept in, I do not know. But heresy it certainly is.
Thomas JeffersonRead