The Proclamation opened the door to self-liberation by the Negro upon which he immediately acted by deserting the plantations in the South and joining the Union armies in the North.

I shall endeavor to take the ground I deem most just to the North, the East, the West, the South, and the whole country.

I have been unwilling to go beyond the pressure of necessity in the unusual exercise of power.

You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial difference between us.

If there is a worse place than hell, I am in it.

In times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and in eternity.