“No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation.”

—  Abraham Lincoln

1860s, Second State of the Union address (1862)
Context: Fellow-citizens, we can not escape history. We of this Congress and this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation.

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Abraham Lincoln 618
16th President of the United States 1809–1865

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