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

“This is what I want. I want people to take care of me. I want them to force comfort upon me. I want the soft-pillow feeling that I associate with memories of being ill when I was younger, soft pillows and fresh linens and satin-edged blankets and hot chocolate. It's not so much the comfort itself as knowing there's someone who wants to take care of you.”
― Franny Billingsley, quote from Chime


“11:20 a.m.
This is my fabulous life: the Sex God left for Whakatane last month and he has taken my heart with him.

11:25 a.m.
Not literally, of course, otherwise there would be a big hole in my nunga-nungas.

11:28 a.m.
And also I would be dead. Which quite frankly would be a blessing in disguise.”
― Louise Rennison, quote from Away Laughing on a Fast Camel


“One Christmas was so much like another, in those years around the sea-town corner now and out of all sound except the distant speaking of the voices I sometimes hear a moment before sleep, that I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six.”
― Dylan Thomas, quote from A Child's Christmas in Wales


“You—you’re what’s important. Music will never be more important than you.”
― Emily Snow, quote from Consumed


“Someday I'll marry you, Miracle. And maybe someday after that, I'll deserve you.”
― Michelle Leighton, quote from Fragile


Interesting books

The Golem's Eye
(76.8K)
The Golem's Eye
by Jonathan Stroud
More Than This
(35.2K)
More Than This
by Patrick Ness
The City of Dreaming Books
(12.7K)
The City of Dreaming...
by Walter Moers
One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd
(97.6K)
One Thousand White W...
by Jim Fergus
Blue Moon
(56.5K)
Blue Moon
by Laurell K. Hamilton
The Naming
(22.2K)
The Naming
by Alison Croggon

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.