I like these quotes from Abraham Lincoln:
Nobody wants war, so why do we have to have war:
“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.” Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.
“If all do not join now to save the good old ship of the Union this voyage nobody will have a chance to pilot her on another voyage.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume IV, “Speech at Cleveland, Ohio” (February 15, 1861), p. 216.
This makes a lot of sense:
“Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VIII, “Speech to One Hundred Fortieth Indiana Regiment” (March 17, 1865), p. 361.
I heard this one from a sermon that really made me think:
At the end of the Civil War, President Lincoln treated the defeated Southern generals kindly. Many Northerners were feeling he was too soft on the South. One man became so intense that he pounded on Mr. Lincoln’s desk and said, “Mr. President, I believe in destroying my enemies.”
President Lincoln reflected a moment, then slowly stood and said, “Do we not destroy our enemies when we make them our friends?”
That of course only works if your enemies respond in kind.