"Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed." Does this mean he would have been a Clinton-esque poll-watcher?
"I am rather inclined to silence, and whether that be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot." And this before the advent of bloggers, radio “personalities,” and talking heads on 24-hour news channels
"Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them." A great sentiment, and not one America holds with today. Instead, we admire celebrities who are odd-looking and pencil thin, and if reality TV shows are any indication, millions of “common-looking people” are doing their damnedest to replicate this look through artificial means. We’ve become a freak show.
“The demon of intemperance ever seems to have delighted in sucking the blood of genius and of generosity." Well, that’s true.
"Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser - in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough." This certainly runs counter to our current climate of knee-jerk litigation. Let’s go spray-paint this on the walls of law schools around town, just for fun.
“That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and, hence, is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.” Yes! Take that, all who would penalize the rich by taxing them egregiously!
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” There are many who would say this is exactly what’s happening under the Bush regime.
“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts.” Also, not exactly a tenet of the Bush administration.
“A woman is the only thing I am afraid of that I know will not hurt me.” I can’t find context for this quote and I find it perplexing and slightly insulting—it’s never safe to assume my gender is harmless.
“If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.” Come again?
"Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally." Now, that’s just awesome. Go, Abe!
17 comments:
"Public sentiment is everything..." reminds me of the story that Abe Lincoln grew his famous beard on the suggestion of a little girl who drew a picture of him with chin whiskers and sent it to the White House. Wouldn't it be awesome if all Presidents were required to heed the suggestions of the voters, like Don Corleone on his daughter's wedding day?
Here's a Carolyn Morrisroe quote that will live on for another 199 years: "It's never safe to assume my gender is harmless."
"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea..." sounds like your post from yesterday, Carolyn. "If this is winter, please bring me spring, and if this is spring, please bring me winter."
Look, you.
That Lincoln quote re litigation is actually very popular among law students. Most law students hear it in the first few days of class and come to appreciate it as they learn about the real world practices of the legal profession (which are often quite different than the "knee-jerk litigation" image many people have).
I'm sure you were excited when you found this quote through a Google search but to suggest that it runs counter to a legal education would be incorrect. In most cases, in my limited experience with civil litigation, lawyers and law students understand the value of peacemaking and reasonableness.
This certainly runs counter to our current climate of knee-jerk litigation.
I refuse to believe that we're a litigious country. Saying we are is the same as saying air travel is unsafe b/c planes are always crashing: you hear a lot about the disasters but nothing about all those planes that land safely. Likewise, you hear nothing about all the perfectly valid civil suits filed each each year, and when you do, you're only apt to hear the most outrageously newsworthy details. For instance, that woman who sued McDonald's was completely justified, but almost no one knows the full story.
Also, I'm not feeling sorry for those poor, tax-burdened rich folks, seeing as progressive taxation no longer exists in our country.
I think Abe Lincoln wasn't talking to lawyers so much as the people who might hire lawyers even though another solution is available. So he was basically trying to make your profession go away, Alex. Old, dead Abe Lincoln is haunting you from beyond the grave.
Matt & Alex,
You obviously need to be watching daytime television, where it's all Judge Judy, Judge Joe, Judge Divorce Court, Judge Your Momma, etc. This is where I form all my opinions of what America's up to.
:)
Judge Your Momma... I'd give her a six, maybe six 1/2.
Dude, that's harsh.
Scale of one to five!
I think you could make a case (pun unintended) that Jerry Springer was also a trial show. It was sort of like the People's Court but full-contact.
Also, while I don't love Jerry Springer, I do love the idea of him. After all, he first became famous as the guy who was mayor of Cincinnati and was run out of office for writing a personal check to a hooker.
FEBRUARY 13TH IS MY SISTER'S (CAROLYN'S) BIRTHDAY.
I have had customers sue me just because they didn't feel like following the rules and didn't get their way. I either have to pay money and close my business to go to court, or not go and lose money anyway.
I have personally known multiple people who have faked injuries and sued stores etc. to get settlements.
I constantly hear people talking about how they are suing a business or employer for something that was their own fault, but it doesn't bother them a bit to try to steal money from them.
Every time something bad happens to me, many people tell me to sue. I do not.
Frivolous lawsuits are very common and cost us all money including me.
Also, as for the taxes, nevermind. I will just get stressed out. Lets just say that our business taxes (and insurance) are out of control.
Being a self-employed single white male with no children, I pay for everyone else. Such as some of my friends who are going to school and working and are somehow eligible for food stamps. Meanwhile I am working while they go on vacation and buy expensive clothes.
And yes, once again, in the real world people really do sue for BS reasons constantly.
It wastes everyone's time and resources and feeds only lawyers and government agencies.
How close you came to losing your welcome here. Brian, you saved yourself just in the nick of time. It was about to get ugly.
Let's assume he was talking about his own mother, anyway.
:)
And Steven, hooray! I hoped you would pipe up. I was thinking of you and Daddy and how often you're sued when I was writing that. It's a different world for my law school friends and their academic world.
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