“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”

— Abraham Lincoln

Last update April 15, 2026. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." by Abraham Lincoln?

Abraham Lincoln photo

Abraham Lincoln618

16th President of the United States 1809–1865

Related quotes

“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) 32nd President of the United States

The earliest citation yet found does not attribute this to Roosevelt, but presents it as a piece of anonymous piece folk-wisdom: "When one reaches the end of his rope, he should tie a knot in it and hang on" ( LIFE magazine (3 April 1919), p. 585 http://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89063018576?urlappend=%3Bseq=65). <br class="br">Misattributed <br class="br">Variant: When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

“When you're at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on.”

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States

“If you're at the end of your rope… untie the knot in your heart.”

Cooper Edens (1945) American writer

Source: If You're Afraid of the Dark, Remember the Night Rainbow/Add One More Star to the Night

“A difference in self loathing? Please. The only difference between a gun and a rope is the time it takes to tie the knot.”

Justine Larbalestier (1967) Australian young-adult fiction author

Source: Zombies Vs. Unicorns

“All knots that lovers tie
Are tied to sever.
Here shall your sweetheart lie,
Untrue for ever.”

A.E. Housman (1859–1936) English classical scholar and poet

Source: More Poems

“Moderate Republicans are reverse Houdinis. They tie themselves up in knots and then tell you they can't do anything because they're tied up in knots.”

Barney Frank (1940) American politician, former member of the House of Representatives for Massachusetts

Quoted in Dionne, E. J., The Washington Post, (16 November 2004)]

“On a prayer,
In a song,
I hear your voice,
And it keeps me hanging on.
Oh, raining down, against the wind,
I'm reaching out,
'Till we reach the circle's end.
When you come back to me again.”

Garth Brooks (1962) American country music artist

When You Come Back to Me Again, written by Jenny Yates and G. Brooks.
Song lyrics, Scarecrow (2001)

“Niggers was the ones with the rope, hanging off trees; Niggas are the ones with gold ropes, hanging out at clubs.”

Tupac Shakur (1971–1996) rapper and actor

Posthumous attributions, Tupac: Resurrection (2003)
Source: Resurrection, 1971-1996

“When I can make
Of ten small words a rope to hang the world!
"I had you and I have you now no more.”

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) American poet

Source: Renascence and Other Poems

“Three more days. That’s what Sven always told me. When you think you’re at the end of your rope, give it three more days. And then another three. Sometimes you’ll find the rope is longer than you thought.”

Mary E. Pearson (1955) young-adult fiction writer

Source: The Heart of Betrayal

Related topics