KINDNESS - ABRAHAM LINCOLN

No one ever treated Abraham Lincoln with more contempt than a man named Stanton. Stanton called him “a low cunning clown” He nicknamed him “the original gorilla” and said that Du Challah, the famous hunter, was a fool to wander about Africa trying to capture a gorilla when he could have found one so easily at Springfield – Lincoln’s home.

Lincoln said nothing. After being elected President, he appointed Stanton his Minister of War Affairs because Stanton was the best man for the job. He treated Stanton with every courtesy in spite of his persistent rudeness.

The years passed. The night came when Lincoln was assassinated in the theatre. In the little room in which the President’s body was taken, Stanton looked down on the silent face of Lincoln and said through his tears, “There lies the greatest ruler of men this world has ever seen” - The patience of love had conquered in the end.

Emerson’s brief characterization of Abraham Lincoln:

“His heart was as great as the world, but there was no room in it to hold the memory of a wrong”

When Abraham Lincoln was asked — “Why do you try to make friends with your enemies? You should destroy them”. Lincoln replied gently; “Am I not destroying my enemies when I make them my friends?”

Groete Koekie Erlank

Mag julle dag geseend wees.