“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

—  Abraham Lincoln

Variant: If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six hours sharpening my ax.

Last update Oct. 1, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." by Abraham Lincoln?
Abraham Lincoln photo
Abraham Lincoln618
16th President of the United States 1809–1865

Related quotes

Edward Coke photo

“Six hours in sleep, in law's grave study six,
Four spend in prayer, the rest on Nature fix.”

Edward Coke (1552–1634) English lawyer and judge

Translation of lines quoted by Coke. Compare: "Seven hours to law, to soothing slumber seven; Ten to the world allot, and all to heaven" - Sir William Jones.

Toni Morrison photo

“Let me tell you something. A man ain’t a goddamn ax. Chopping, hacking, busting every goddamn minute of the day. Things get to him. Things he can’t chop down because they’re inside.”

Toni Morrison book Beloved

Source: Beloved

Dane Cook photo

“I hope when he dies, he does become a tree. I hope he's in the middle of the wilderness and he's doing his tree thing. Whatever it is trees do. I know they do a lot of work with breezes. And wouldn't it be fantastic if while he was out there just enjoying his treeness, through the woods, a huge sweaty guy with an ax comes long? Sees him… [tree-chopping motions]. Chops him down, smash! Put a chain around him, drag him through the mud and the muck, throw him into a sawmill and grind him up. [Nuzzsaw noise] Then you pound him down into paper, and once he's paper, you print the Bible on him.”

Dane Cook (1972) American actor and comedian

Vicious Circle (2006)

J.M. Coetzee photo

“A book should be an axe to chop open the frozen sea inside us.”

J.M. Coetzee book Summertime

Source: Summertime

“The axe is laid to the root of the tree. … I will hew it down. And as I live, I will plague your Honor, Pomp, Greatness, Superfluity, and confound it into parity, equality, community.”

Abiezer Coppe (1619–1672) English writer

A Fiery Flying Roll (1650)

Nicholas Negroponte photo

“Isn't it odd how parents grieve if their child spends six hours a day on the 'Net, but are delighted if those same hours are spent reading books?”

Nicholas Negroponte (1943) American computer scientist

Attributed

Homér photo

“So here the twins were laid low at Aeneas' hands,
down they crashed like lofty pine trees axed.”

Homér Iliad

V. 559–560 (tr. Robert Fagles).
Iliad (c. 750 BC)

Carlos Zambrano photo

“I've been on the computer a lot. They say that's the cause of the soreness in my elbow. I'll be in control. I spent four hours. Now, I'll have to spend one hour and take it easy.”

Carlos Zambrano (1981) Venezuelan baseball pitcher

Muskat, Carrie, Notes: Zambrano needs quiet time http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050522&amp;content_id=1058873&amp;vkey=news_chc&amp;fext=.jsp&amp;c_id=chc, MLB.com, Retrieved on June 15, 2007. <br class="br">2005

D.H. Lawrence photo

“Instead of chopping yourself down to fit the world, chop the world down to fit yourself.”

D.H. Lawrence book Women in Love

Source: Women in Love

Related topics