To urge the preparation of defence is not to assert the imminence of war. On the contrary, if war were imminent, preparations for defence would be too late.

Politics is almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics many times.

In a war, you can only be killed once, but in politics, many times.

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies... the mystic chords of memory... will swell the chorus of the Union... touched by the better angels of our nature.

The man who cannot look upon the battlefield dry-eyed will allow many men to be killed uselessly.

Once you are so unfortunate as to be drawn into a war, no price is too great to pay for an early and victorious peace.