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
The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, 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. --as quoted in THE RIVER OF WINGED DREAMS
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the collective memory of a nation and the innate goodness within humanity, suggesting hope for unity and peace.
This quote by Abraham Lincoln speaks to the deep and shared memories of a nation's struggles and sacrifices. It conveys an optimistic belief that the inherent goodness and compassion within people will eventually resonate and lead to a harmonious coming together, resonating with the idea that despite the shadows of the past, there is always hope for a brighter future governed by our better instincts.
Themes
MemoryUnityGoodnessHopeNature
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech addressing healing after conflict.
More from Abraham Lincoln
All quotes →Sir, 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
Similar quotes
The devil is no fool. He can get people feeling about heaven the way they ought to feel about hell. He can make them fear the means of grace the way they do not fear sin. And he does so, not by light but by obscurity, not by realities but by shadows; not by clarity and substance, but by dreams and the creatures of psychosis. And men are so poor in intellect that a few cold chills down their spine will be enough to keep them from ever finding out the truth about anything.
Thomas MertonRead
Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.
Stephen KingRead
The susceptibility of the average modern to pictorial suggestion enables advertising to exploit his lessened power of judgment.
Johan HuizingaRead
I think that there is far too much work done in the world, that immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous, and that what needs to be preached in modern industrial countries is quite different from what always has been preached.
Bertrand RussellRead
The choice, however, is as clear now for nations as it was once for the individual: peace or extinction.
Lester B. PearsonRead
Relations of production are first reproduced by the materiality of the processes of production and circulation. But it should not be forgotten that ideological relations are immediately present in these same processes.
Louis AlthusserRead