“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” Abraham Lincoln is mostly remembered as the president who freed the slaves. He is so much more than that. He was the embodiment of what we, as people, should strive to be. Lincoln will go down as one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States because of his patriotism and wisdom. Lincoln shows off his love for the country in the “Gettysburg Address”. He starts it out by bringing it back to our country’s inception, “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.” With this statement, everyone in attendance had their attention captured. This was crucial for the speech, and for truly getting everyone to listen to what Lincoln had to say. He then goes on and calmly explains that our great nation …show more content…
He is quoted with saying, “Better to remain silent and to be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” Simply put, Lincoln is saying do not talk to talk. Speak out to learn. Do not speak out if you have no reason to. Another quote attributed to his wisdom is when he said,” Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.” Again, he is trying to teach with what he is saying. He is saying to work smarter, not harder. Lincoln wants people to think ahead about a problem instead of jumping right into it without any prior knowledge of how to tackle it. Lincoln was a great orator. His wit often helped during his speeches. In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln uses meaningful words meant for people to think on. He wanted people to have to think back and go over what he said. He wanted people to get it in their heads. This is yet another reason this speech is still well known