Stephen Douglas Quotes
Tracing 19th‑century American debate, Stephen Douglas’s name appears often. This page gathers six brief remarks that capture his fame, sharp attacks, and Lincoln’s framing of his arguments. If you enjoy politics, Civil‑War era leaders, or Senate strategy, you may find the Lincoln, American Politics, and Debate pages useful.
![“He [Stephen Douglas] is blowing out the moral lights around us, when he contends that whoever wants slaves has a right to hold them; that he is penetrating, so far as lies in his power, the human soul, and eradicating the light of reason and the love of liberty, when he is in every possible way…” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/85e/abraham-lincoln-88_human-soul_he-stephen-douglas-is-blowing-out-the-mo_512193.jpg)
![“I affect no contempt for the high eminence he [Senator Stephen Douglas] has reached. So reached, that the oppressed of my species,might have shared with me in the elevation, I would rather stand on that eminence, than wear the richest crown that ever pressed a monarch's brow.” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0d1/abraham-lincoln-88_ambition_i-affect-no-contempt-for-the-high-eminen_2296058.jpg)
![“Senator [Stephen] Douglas is of world-wide renown. All the anxious politicians of his party, or who have been of his party for years past, have been looking upon him as certainly, at no distant day, to be the President of the United States. They have seen in his round, jolly, fruitful face, post…” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ad4/abraham-lincoln-88_anxious_senator-stephen-douglas-is-of-world-wide_2804348.jpg)