 |
The top hat worn by Abraham Lincoln
to Ford's Theatre on April 14th, 1865
approximately one week after
Lee surrendered to Grant in Appomattox Courthouse
|
(Yes, I liked the true north quote from the movie LINCOLN ... not sure who came up with the swamp metaphor, Lincoln or screenplay writer Tony Kushner. ... no I do not have it here in this stack ... if you find it and want to send it along, please do so.)
Ah ha ... this may be the quote (if not, it is pretty close) from the movie:
Abraham Lincoln:
A compass, I learnt when I was surveying, it'll... it'll point you True North from where you're standing, but it's got no advice about the swamps and dessert and chasm that you'll encounter along the way. If in pursuit of your destination, you plunge ahead, heedless of obstacles, and achieve nothing more than to sink in a swamp... What's the use of knowing True North?
 |
| (~ idk yet) |
"
You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.
As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.
Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.
To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.
When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion.
America
will never
be destroyed from the outside.
If
we falter
and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.
 |
| Sanna Dullaway |
If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it.
Surely God would not have created such a being as man, with an ability to grasp the infinite, to exist only for a day!
No, no, man was made for immortality.
We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.
What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself. (lol)
Towering genius disdains a beaten path.
It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. "
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
If you wish to make a man look noble,
your best course is to kill him.
What superiority he may have inherited from his race,
what superiority nature may have personally gifted him with, comes out in death.
~ Alexander Smith
If there is not the war, you don't get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you don't get a great statesman; if Lincoln had lived in a time of peace, no one would have known his name.
~ Theodore Roosevelt
"In recent decades, the “great man” theory of history has faced well-deserved criticism from historians, said Faust. In a time when academics concern themselves more with broad social forces than presidents and generals, a movie like “Lincoln” — in addition to being a “tribute to compromise” — can serve as a reminder that in a few extraordinary cases, visionaries like Lincoln really have changed the world and shaped the historical record." Excerpt from HARVARD gazette
Lincoln’s dimensions
Kushner, Faust discuss the man and the film at Harvard screening ... HERE
 |
| Britt Freda
Added February 2013 It absolutely amazes me to see how many "hits" the blogger data shows on this post ... most seem to be searching for the "True North/Swamp" metaphor. I enjoyed the drama of the script. It is interesting to me that we, well, the people I'm acquainted with, tend to deify "historical" figures. I think these quotes that I selected (above) simply demonstrate that Lincoln had some interesting things to say. Maybe he said these things. Maybe not. I just like the ideas that are represented ... how they come across to me. He did know some thing about skunks, and I think if we were able to be entirely honest with ourselves, we all do. For a quick primer on Lincoln I would hop over to the link provided below (well, I already did, here) ... .
I really have grown to enjoy history. It is truly unknowable ... some stuff happened but what motivated it to happen is quite the mystery. Lincoln ... not just and black and white (no pun intended) kinda guy. That's why I really like the painting I chose for here. Lincoln was a lot more colorful then is palatable. I bet most "heroes of the ___" are.
"I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races, that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people . . . . I as much as any man am in favor of the superior position assigned to the white race."~ Abraham Lincoln, First Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Ottawa, Illinois, Sept. 18, 1858, in The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln vol.3, pp. 145-146. (Uh Oh...) As writer DiLorenzo explains, "So, go and see Spielberg’s Lincoln movie if you must, but keep in mind that it is just another left-wing Hollywood fantasy." Abe Lincoln was a racist bigotBy Donald Sensing |
If you wish to make a man look noble,
your best course is to kill him.
What superiority he may have inherited from his race,
what superiority nature may have personally gifted him with, comes out in death.
~ Alexander Smith
~ Theodore Roosevelt
 |
ABRAHAM LINCOLN AT ANTIETAM (1862) |
No comments:
Post a Comment