"We leave to some Emil Ludwig or his ilk the drawing of Abraham Lincoln's portrait with rosy little wings. Lincoln's significance lies in his not hesitating before the most severe means once they were found to be necessary in achieving a great historic aim posed by the development of a young nation. The question lies not even in which of the warring camps caused or itself suffered the greatest number of victims. History has different yardsticks for the cruelty of the Northerners and the cruelty of the Southerners in the Civil War. A slave-owner who through cunning and violence shackles a slave in chains, and a slave who through cunning or violence breaks the chains — let not the contemptible eunuchs tell us that they are equals before a court of morality!"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Lawyers from the United StatesAbolitionistsPoliticians from IllinoisAbraham LincolnPeople of the American Civil War
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Leon Trotsky, "Their Morals and Ours" (1939)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Abraham Lincoln
1809 – 1865
Präsident der USA (1861-1865)
663 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Abraham Lincoln →
Related Quotes
"It is rather for us here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increa…"
"It is the eternal struggle between these two principles — right and wrong — throughout the world. They are the two pr…"
"Those arguments that are made, that the inferior race are to be treated with as much allowance as they are capable of…"
"I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisd…"
"I was a brute last night."
"Miscellany"
"The Writings of Abraham Lincoln"
"John Summerfield Staples, President Lincoln's "Substitute""
"Abraham Lincoln's Assassination"
"Meditations on the Divine Will (from an undated manuscript found among his papers by one of his secretaries found amo…"