On the occasion of my birthday, a great good friend happened upon what matters.
“The better part of one's life consists of his friendships.” - A Lincoln
In hard cover and gold leaf, he made a gift of what he knew and I will forever be grateful.
Simple words to express what matters most
"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. "
I usually am a silent viewer of your project, but as a retired history teacher, I'm appearing today. I really enjoyed the recent movie about Lincoln, and I've enjoyed biographies about him and his vision for the country, so well expressed in the Gettysburg Address. It's no wonder you, an insightful and articulate writer yourself, will love this book of his writings. Lincoln persevered through his suffering from depression to accomplish the essential vision he felt too few grasped for the country. His law partner William Herndon said, "His melancholy dripped from him as he walked."
your words and Abe's