November 20

"Force is all conquering but its victories are short lived."

Abraham Lincoln, 16th President, 1861-1865- attributed to Lincoln. This quote is not found in any of Lincoln's speeches or writings. However, it seems to coincide with much of what he did say, and agreed with what other great thinkers and writers have said. Emerson wrote, "The god of victory is said to be one handed, but Peace gives victory to both sides."(Journals, 1867). Gandhi, years later stated, "Victory attained by violence is tantamount to defeat, for it is temporary." (Satyagraha Leaflet #13, May, 03, 1919) Lincoln does not wish to initiate the conflict which grew into the Civil War. The conflict already existed when he took office. He goal was to maintain the union and the Constitution. "... In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it." (First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861.) In his second Inaugural Address, he states, "Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came." He feels no need for revenge but wished to bind the nation back together."...With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan -- to achieve and cherish a lasting peace among ourselves and with the world. (Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.) Lincoln was assassinated and died just over a month later on April 15, 1865.