Quotes from Lincoln

Gore Vidal ·  672 pages

Rating: (7.4K votes)


“Seward appreciated the honest and open way that Stanton lied; it was the hallmark of the truly great lawyer, and demonstrated a professional mastery not unlike his own.”
― Gore Vidal, quote from Lincoln


“I realize,” said Sumner, “that the press is hardly reliable.” Lincoln turned from the window; suddenly, he grinned. “Oh, yes, they are. They lie. And then they re-lie. So they are nothing if not re-lie-able.”
― Gore Vidal, quote from Lincoln


“In politics, as in love, opposites attract, and the misunderstandings that ensue tend to be as bitter and, as in love, as equally terminal.”
― Gore Vidal, quote from Lincoln


“Now you may not know this”—Lincoln shut his eyes—“but when I first ran for the Illinois legislature, I came out, more or less, for female suffrage; not exactly the most popular position to take back then, and in that part of the world.” “It is still not the most popular issue anywhere in the world, thank God.” “Well, Mrs. Frémont comes to see me late at night—right off the cars from the West—and threatens me to my face with an uprising against the government, led by the Frémonts and their radical friends. So I called her, in the nicest way, I thought, ‘Quite a lady politician,’ and she was madder than a wet hen and went and told everyone that I’d threatened her!” Lincoln sighed. “Is it possible that female suffrage may not be the answer to every human problem?”
― Gore Vidal, quote from Lincoln


“helped the boy-governor eat the remains of the fruit, they discussed how it was that newspapers sometimes knew all sorts of secrets that they ought not to have known—and certainly ought not to publish, when the rest of the time they had no interest in facts at all. “Whatever sounds as if it might suit the prejudices of the reader, that is what will be published,” said Chase.”
― Gore Vidal, quote from Lincoln



“It is my task always to know, particularly when I don’t.”
― Gore Vidal, quote from Lincoln


“You know what Mr. Bates called me?” Seward shook his head with wonder. “An unprincipled liar. And here I am one of the most heavily principled men in politics.” Lincoln chuckled. In every way, making allowances for regional differences, Seward’s humor was not unlike his own. “And since you’re a smart man, Governor, you never actually lie. Smart men never have to.”
― Gore Vidal, quote from Lincoln


About the author

Gore Vidal
Born place: in West Point, New York, The United States
Born date October 3, 1925
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“ليس مهما ما إذا كان مضمون الهتاف صحيحا أم غير صحيح ما إذا كنتما تؤمنان به أو لا. قراركما بالهتاف معه ليس مقياسا لالتزامكما بالعدالة أو الحرية أو أي من المبادئ النبيلة التي يدعيها احيانا تكون الشعارات الجذرية بمثابة الفخ يهتف بها المندسون حتى يمكن لصق تهمة السعي إلى الإطاحة بالنظام بمحموعة من الطلاب الذين يحتجون غلى الح...ملة على الصحافة في احيان اخرى لاتكون فخاخا على الإطلاق بل موقفا بائسا يعبر عنه شخص شجاع

لكن كيف يمكنكما أن تعرفا؟ هدفكما هو تجنب التحول إلى بيادق,وتجنب أن تجرا الى المشكلات بسبب فضولكما أو لاعتقادكما أنكما تريان التاريخ يصنع أمامكما”
― Shirin Ebadi, quote from Iran Awakening


“In the secular world, women are also credited with having a sense of good that is intrinsically female, a sense of good that men do not have. This is a frequent feature of contemporary environmentalist or antimilitarist movements. Women are seen to have an inborn commitment to both clean air and peace, a moral nature that abhors pollution and murder. Being good or moral is viewed as a particular biological capacity of women and as a result women are the natural guardians of morality: a moral vanguard as it were. Organizers use this appeal to women all the time. Motherhood is especially invoked as biological proof that women have a special relationship to life, a special sensitivity to its meaning, a special, intuitive knowledge of what is right. Any political group can appropriate the special moral sensibility of women to its own ends: most groups do, usually in place of offering substantive relief to women with respect to sexism in the group itself. Women all along the male-defined political spectrum give special credence to this view of a female biological nature that is morally good.”
― Andrea Dworkin, quote from Right Wing Women


“She lied, sir. She has always lied. I don't think she ever spoke a word of truth. But when she spoke, I believed her.”
― Prosper Mérimée, quote from Carmen


“My mother says that falling in love and getting dumped is good for you because it prepares you for the real thing, like it gets you ready for true love and all, but I'm thinking it's more like climbing up he St. Louis Arch and falling off twice. Does he first fall really get you ready for the second?”
― Dandi Daley Mackall, quote from My Boyfriends' Dogs: The Tales of Adam and Eve and Shirley


“Grab for time to write instead of wait for time.”
― Julia Cameron, quote from The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation Into the Writing Life


Interesting books

The Lost Girls of Rome
(3.5K)
The Lost Girls of Ro...
by Donato Carrisi
Blutsschwestern
(476.2K)
Blutsschwestern
by Richelle Mead
Forever
(5.3K)
Forever
by Chanda Hahn
La petite fille de Monsieur Linh
(4.4K)
La petite fille de M...
by Philippe Claudel
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
(249.8K)
Daughter of Smoke an...
by Laini Taylor
Baptism of Fire
(23.3K)
Baptism of Fire
by Andrzej Sapkowski

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.