--- title: "9 Lincoln Quotes By Eric Foner" description: "9 Lincoln quotes by Eric Foner. Plus more from Eric Foner and more Lincoln sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa0/eric-foner-20891_believe_whatever-lincoln-s-racial-views-which-ar_1227027.jpg" --- > [Whatever Lincoln's racial views, which are not totally modern and egalitarian in many ways, he believes blacks should have this natural right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/whatever-lincoln-s-racial-views-which-are-not-totally-modern-and/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa0/eric-foner-20891_believe_whatever-lincoln-s-racial-views-which-ar_1227027.jpg) > [I admire Lincoln enormously and I think what's interesting about Lincoln is how he changes, it's not that he held the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/i-admire-lincoln-enormously-and-i-think-what-s-interesting-about/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/eric-foner-20891_admire_i-admire-lincoln-enormously-and-i-think_1805151.jpg) > [Whenever you think of Lincoln as a historian, in his own mind, he becomes the Great Emancipator. This is his role in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/whenever-you-think-of-lincoln-as-a-historian-in-his-own-mind-he/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/719/eric-foner-20891_ambitious_whenever-you-think-of-lincoln-as-a-histo_1933426.jpg) > [ I don't \[even\] know the number of books on Abraham Lincoln. Ten thousand, twelve thousand? I have seen various numbers. It seems… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/i-don-t-even-know-the-number-of-books-on-abraham-lincoln-ten-thousand/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e00/eric-foner-20891_abraham_i-don-t-even-know-the-number-of-books-on_316134.jpg) > [Lincoln has accepted America as a biracial society. He's talking about giving at least some black men the right to vote. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/lincoln-has-accepted-america-as-a-biracial-society-he-s-talking-about/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb0/eric-foner-20891_accepted_lincoln-has-accepted-america-as-a-biraci_1871731.jpg) > [ You pick up very well-known books on Lincoln \[and\] you will find almost no reference to his long-term belief in colonization. Why?… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/you-pick-up-very-well-known-books-on-lincoln-and-you-will-find-almost/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0e/eric-foner-20891_belief_you-pick-up-very-well-known-books-on-lin_3139768.jpg) > [“It is a well known fact that Abraham Lincoln spent much of his spare time visiting wounded soldiers in Union Army hospitals.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/it-is-a-well-known-fact-that-abraham-lincoln-spent-much-of-his-spare/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52a/eric-foner-20891_college_it-is-a-well-known-fact-that-abraham-lin_1355424.jpg) > [Lincoln is such an iconic figure in American history. He seems to reflect so many elements of American culture that we consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/lincoln-is-such-an-iconic-figure-in-american-history-he-seems-to/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/eric-foner-20891_abe_lincoln-is-such-an-iconic-figure-in-amer_2157446.jpg) > [Lincoln was a modernizer, so to speak. He believed in economic development. As a Whig before the war he favored what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/lincoln-was-a-modernizer-so-to-speak-he-believed-in-economic/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/eric-foner-20891_appropriation_lincoln-was-a-modernizer-so-to-speak-he_2789338.jpg) ## Other authors on Lincoln ## More by Eric Foner > [“Successful teaching rests both on a genuine and selfless concern for students and on the ability to convey to them a love of history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/successful-teaching-rests-both-on-a-genuine-and-selfless-concern-for/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [A man working for wages his whole life is not really free. That is why Jefferson said, you have to own land. Southerners said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/a-man-working-for-wages-his-whole-life-is-not-really-free-that-is-why/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [There are those who view the abolitionists as just maniacs, apolitical fanatics who helped to cause the war, and Lincoln is the model of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/there-are-those-who-view-the-abolitionists-as-just-maniacs-apolitical/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [“New laws also redefined in the interest of the planter the terms of credit and the right to property—the essence of economic power in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/new-laws-also-redefined-in-the-interest-of-the-planter-the-terms-of/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [Colonization was the idea that once slavery ended African-Americans should be encouraged - or required, in some people's view - required to leave the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/colonization-was-the-idea-that-once-slavery-ended-african-americans/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [ I don't \[even\] know the number of books on Abraham Lincoln. Ten thousand, twelve thousand? I have seen various numbers. It seems like every… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/i-don-t-even-know-the-number-of-books-on-abraham-lincoln-ten-thousand/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [“Ironically, as Illinois Sen. Richard Yates pointed out, opponents of expansionism employed arguments extremely reminiscent of proslavery ideology, while its supporters upheld the principle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/ironically-as-illinois-sen-richard-yates-pointed-out-opponents-of/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [Whatever Lincoln's racial views, which are not totally modern and egalitarian in many ways, he believes blacks should have this natural right to improve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/whatever-lincoln-s-racial-views-which-are-not-totally-modern-and/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [“It is a well known fact that Abraham Lincoln spent much of his spare time visiting wounded soldiers in Union Army hospitals. I've spent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/it-is-a-well-known-fact-that-abraham-lincoln-spent-much-of-his-spare/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [“Republicans, white and black, heaped scorn upon “respectables” who did not participate directly in the violence but “could not stop their sons from murdering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/republicans-white-and-black-heaped-scorn-upon-respectables-who-did/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [Look, Mrs. McGillicuddy, it's not my fault your son jumped out a dorm room window on Christmas eve. I've written over fifty books as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/look-mrs-mcgillicuddy-it-s-not-my-fault-your-son-jumped-out-a-dorm/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [Who owns history? Everyone and no one--which is why the study of the past is a constantly evolving, never-ending journey of discovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/who-owns-history-everyone-and-no-one-which-is-why-the-study-of-the/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [For historians, hindsight can be a treacherous ally. Enabling us to trace the hidden patterns of past events, it beguiles us with the mirage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/for-historians-hindsight-can-be-a-treacherous-ally-enabling-us-to/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [In a democratic society, as Max Weber said, what is possible is only possible because some people have demanded the impossible. The abolitionists helped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/in-a-democratic-society-as-max-weber-said-what-is-possible-is-only/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [I admire Lincoln enormously and I think what's interesting about Lincoln is how he changes, it's not that he held the same view throughout…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/i-admire-lincoln-enormously-and-i-think-what-s-interesting-about/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lincoln/eric-foner/#itemlist", "name": "9 Lincoln Quotes By Eric Foner", "numberOfItems": 9, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Whatever Lincoln's racial views, which are not totally modern and egalitarian in many ways, he believes blacks should have this natural right to improve their condition in life and slavery denies that to them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eric Foner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/whatever-lincoln-s-racial-views-which-are-not-totally-modern-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa0/eric-foner-20891_believe_whatever-lincoln-s-racial-views-which-ar_1227027.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa0/eric-foner-20891_believe_whatever-lincoln-s-racial-views-which-ar_1227027.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa0/eric-foner-20891_believe_whatever-lincoln-s-racial-views-which-ar_1227027.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Whatever Lincoln's racial views, which are not totally modern and egalitarian in many ways, he believes…” — Eric Foner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I admire Lincoln enormously and I think what's interesting about Lincoln is how he changes, it's not that he held the same view throughout his life.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eric Foner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/i-admire-lincoln-enormously-and-i-think-what-s-interesting-about/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/eric-foner-20891_admire_i-admire-lincoln-enormously-and-i-think_1805151.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/eric-foner-20891_admire_i-admire-lincoln-enormously-and-i-think_1805151.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/eric-foner-20891_admire_i-admire-lincoln-enormously-and-i-think_1805151.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I admire Lincoln enormously and I think what's interesting about Lincoln is how he changes, it's not that he…” — Eric Foner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Whenever you think of Lincoln as a historian, in his own mind, he becomes the Great Emancipator. This is his role in history henceforth. He was an ambitious man who wanted to make an impact on history, and this is how he did it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eric Foner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/whenever-you-think-of-lincoln-as-a-historian-in-his-own-mind-he/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/719/eric-foner-20891_ambitious_whenever-you-think-of-lincoln-as-a-histo_1933426.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/719/eric-foner-20891_ambitious_whenever-you-think-of-lincoln-as-a-histo_1933426.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/719/eric-foner-20891_ambitious_whenever-you-think-of-lincoln-as-a-histo_1933426.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Whenever you think of Lincoln as a historian, in his own mind, he becomes the Great Emancipator. 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It seems like every generation is always trying to come to terms with Lincoln.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eric Foner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/i-don-t-even-know-the-number-of-books-on-abraham-lincoln-ten-thousand/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e00/eric-foner-20891_abraham_i-don-t-even-know-the-number-of-books-on_316134.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e00/eric-foner-20891_abraham_i-don-t-even-know-the-number-of-books-on_316134.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e00/eric-foner-20891_abraham_i-don-t-even-know-the-number-of-books-on_316134.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't [even] know the number of books on Abraham Lincoln. Ten thousand, twelve thousand? 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That is a whole different vision than simply saying \"let's have them go out of the country.\" I think what's interesting is the change in Lincoln's view, but one must realize that he did adhere to this idea of colonization for many years.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eric Foner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/lincoln-has-accepted-america-as-a-biracial-society-he-s-talking-about/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb0/eric-foner-20891_accepted_lincoln-has-accepted-america-as-a-biraci_1871731.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb0/eric-foner-20891_accepted_lincoln-has-accepted-america-as-a-biraci_1871731.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb0/eric-foner-20891_accepted_lincoln-has-accepted-america-as-a-biraci_1871731.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Lincoln has accepted America as a biracial society. 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It doesn't fit the retrospective view we want to have of Lincoln as the man who was the moralist in politics, who came into office committed to ending slavery and waited to sign this document.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eric Foner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/you-pick-up-very-well-known-books-on-lincoln-and-you-will-find-almost/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0e/eric-foner-20891_belief_you-pick-up-very-well-known-books-on-lin_3139768.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0e/eric-foner-20891_belief_you-pick-up-very-well-known-books-on-lin_3139768.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0e/eric-foner-20891_belief_you-pick-up-very-well-known-books-on-lin_3139768.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You pick up very well-known books on Lincoln [and] you will find almost no reference to his long-term belief…” — Eric Foner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is a well known fact that Abraham Lincoln spent much of his spare time visiting wounded soldiers in Union Army hospitals. I've spent thirty years teaching history at Columbia and I don't think I've spent more than fifteen minutes in the freshman dorm. Are we the ones keeping Lincoln's memory alive? Or are we burying it?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eric Foner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/it-is-a-well-known-fact-that-abraham-lincoln-spent-much-of-his-spare/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52a/eric-foner-20891_college_it-is-a-well-known-fact-that-abraham-lin_1355424.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52a/eric-foner-20891_college_it-is-a-well-known-fact-that-abraham-lin_1355424.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52a/eric-foner-20891_college_it-is-a-well-known-fact-that-abraham-lin_1355424.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is a well known fact that Abraham Lincoln spent much of his spare time visiting wounded soldiers in Union…” — Eric Foner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Lincoln is such an iconic figure in American history. He seems to reflect so many elements of American culture that we consider essential, whether it's the self-made man, the frontier hero, the politician who tries to act in a moral way as well as in a political way, Honest Abe. His career raises these questions that are still with us, the power of the federal government vis-à-vis the states, the question of race in American life, can we be a society of equals? There are so many issues central to Lincoln's career that are still part of our society one hundred and fifty years later.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eric Foner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/lincoln-is-such-an-iconic-figure-in-american-history-he-seems-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/eric-foner-20891_abe_lincoln-is-such-an-iconic-figure-in-amer_2157446.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/eric-foner-20891_abe_lincoln-is-such-an-iconic-figure-in-amer_2157446.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/eric-foner-20891_abe_lincoln-is-such-an-iconic-figure-in-amer_2157446.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Lincoln is such an iconic figure in American history. He seems to reflect so many elements of American…” — Eric Foner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Lincoln was a modernizer, so to speak. He believed in economic development. As a Whig before the war he favored what we would call infrastructure spending, government appropriation for canals, railroads, river and harbor improvements, and a tariff to protect industry. He believed in this market revolution that was sweeping across Northern society. He himself benefited from it in his own life.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eric Foner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/lincoln-was-a-modernizer-so-to-speak-he-believed-in-economic/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/eric-foner-20891_appropriation_lincoln-was-a-modernizer-so-to-speak-he_2789338.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/eric-foner-20891_appropriation_lincoln-was-a-modernizer-so-to-speak-he_2789338.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/eric-foner-20891_appropriation_lincoln-was-a-modernizer-so-to-speak-he_2789338.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Lincoln was a modernizer, so to speak. He believed in economic development. 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