--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I could write shorter sermons but when I…" description: "\"I could write shorter sermons but when I get started I'm too lazy to stop\" — Abraham Lincoln" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f76/abraham-lincoln-88_inspirational_i-could-write-shorter-sermons-but-when-i_959902.png" --- # I could write shorter sermons but when I get started I'm… ![“I could write shorter sermons but when I get started I'm too lazy to stop” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f76/abraham-lincoln-88_inspirational_i-could-write-shorter-sermons-but-when-i_959902.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f76/abraham-lincoln-88_inspirational_i-could-write-shorter-sermons-but-when-i_959902.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f76/abraham-lincoln-88_inspirational_i-could-write-shorter-sermons-but-when-i_959902.png) > “I could write shorter sermons but when I get started I'm too lazy to stop” [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He acknowledges a tendency to start long projects but lacks the discipline to finish them efficiently. **In simple terms:** Starts long, stops early due to laziness. Key Takeaway Practice concise expression. Themes discipline productivity self‑control Mood frustrated reflective Type advice personal When to use this quote - writing essays - speeches - daily journaling - project planning Key Concepts habit formation focus Questions to Reflect On - How can you enforce a stopping rule? - What limits can you set for yourself? A Different Perspective Motivation alone may not overcome inertia without concrete strategies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Lazy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lazy/) [Lazy Stop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lazy-stop-1768485/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Sermons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sermons/) [Sermons Started](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sermons-started-1768484/) [Shorter Sermons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shorter-sermons-1768483/) [Started Lazy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/started-lazy-1768482/) [Write Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-shorter-1391145/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [When you are young, hone your craft and write shorter pieces instead of novels, because it's really hard to finish a novel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/when-you-are-young-hone-your-craft-and-write-shorter-pieces-instead/) [Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/) > [My post-child period resulted in one instant change: I write shorter books for kids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/berkeley-breathed/my-post-child-period-resulted-in-one-instant-change-i-write-shorter/) [Berkeley Breathed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/berkeley-breathed/) > [You complain, friend Swift, of the length of my epigrams, but you yourself write nothing. Yours are shorter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martial/you-complain-friend-swift-of-the-length-of-my-epigrams-but-you/) [Martial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martial/) > [If I had more time I would write a shorter letter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/if-i-had-more-time-i-would-write-a-shorter-letter/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [I am sorry to have made such a long speech, but I did not have time to write a shorter one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-am-sorry-to-have-made-such-a-long-speech-but-i-did-not-have-time-to/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [“I don't like to hear cut and dried sermons. No—when I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-don-t-like-to-hear-cut-and-dried-sermons-no-when-i-hear-a-man/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Powers Hapgood had just come from court because there was some kind of dust-up on a picket line. The judge was so curious about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/powers-hapgood-had-just-come-from-court-because-there-was-some-kind/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [If God is not with us, we do not want to continue. If the Sermon on the Mount is simply impractical, our mission work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-baker/if-god-is-not-with-us-we-do-not-want-to-continue-if-the-sermon-on-the/) [Heidi Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-baker/) > [This topic of judging others could actually be taught in a two-word sermon. When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/this-topic-of-judging-others-could-actually-be-taught-in-a-two-word/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [it's not my job to preach a sermon. Art is anyhow a homily. My job is to speak in living images, not in arguments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-gogol/it-s-not-my-job-to-preach-a-sermon-art-is-anyhow-a-homily-my-job-is/) [Nikolai Gogol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-gogol/) > [The pious farmer, who ne'er misses pray'rs, With patience suffers unexpected rain; He blesses Heav'n for what its bounty spares, And sees, resign'd, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wortley-montagu/the-pious-farmer-who-ne-er-misses-pray-rs-with-patience-suffers/) [Mary Wortley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wortley-montagu/) > [“The same Sermon on the Mount that influenced Tolstoy to write “The Kingdom of God is Within You”, inspired me to a great extent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-same-sermon-on-the-mount-that-influenced-tolstoy-to-write-the/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Sermons are like pie-crust, the shorter the better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-o-malley/sermons-are-like-pie-crust-the-shorter-the-better/) [Austin O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-o-malley/) > [As it can be maintained that all the great advances have come from men under forty, so the history of the world shows that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/as-it-can-be-maintained-that-all-the-great-advances-have-come-from/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [Christ never preached any funeral sermons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-l-moody/christ-never-preached-any-funeral-sermons/) [Dwight L. Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-l-moody/) ## More by Abraham Lincoln > [Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/elections-belong-to-the-people-it-s-their-decision-if-they-decide-to/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/all-that-i-am-or-ever-hope-to-be-i-owe-to-my-angel-mother/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/while-the-people-retain-their-virtue-and-vigilance-no-administration/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-could-not-have-slept-tonight-if-i-had-left-that-helpless-little/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers of a common country, and should dwell together in bonds of fraternal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/let-us-at-all-times-remember-that-all-american-citizens-are-brothers/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [If you wish to be a lawyer, attach no consequence to the place you are in, or the person you are with; but get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/if-you-wish-to-be-a-lawyer-attach-no-consequence-to-the-place-you-are/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [As we keep or break the Sabbath Day we nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope by which man rises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/as-we-keep-or-break-the-sabbath-day-we-nobly-save-or-meanly-lose-the/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Tell the truth and you won't have so much to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/tell-the-truth-and-you-won-t-have-so-much-to-remember/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [With high hope for the future, no prediction is ventured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/with-high-hope-for-the-future-no-prediction-is-ventured/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [We know, Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers amongst us. How little they know, whereof they speak! There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-know-southern-men-declare-that-their-slaves-are-better-off-than/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I am glad to see that a system of labor prevails under which laborers can strike when they want to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-am-glad-to-see-that-a-system-of-labor-prevails-under-which-laborers/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-don-t-like-that-man-i-must-get-to-know-him-better/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and to the young, it comes with bitterest agony because it takes them unawares.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/in-this-sad-world-of-ours-sorrow-comes-to-all-and-to-the-young-it/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The man does not live who is more devoted to peace than I am. None who would do more to preserve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/the-man-does-not-live-who-is-more-devoted-to-peace-than-i-am-none-who/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) [Explore all 1,437 Abraham Lincoln quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) ## More Inspirational quotes > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We talk to God--that is prayer; God talks to us--that is inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-emilie-cady/we-talk-to-god-that-is-prayer-god-talks-to-us-that-is-inspiration/) [H. Emilie Cady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-emilie-cady/) > [You cant be controlling in improv.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-walsh/you-cant-be-controlling-in-improv/) [Matt Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-walsh/) > [The man who can master his time can master nearly anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-man-who-can-master-his-time-can-master-nearly-anything/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Just understand that the good that you want is already here. All you have to do is get in harmony with it. And you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/just-understand-that-the-good-that-you-want-is-already-here-all-you/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/if-you-want-to-build-a-ship-don-t-drum-up-the-men-to-gather-wood/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Obviously, if you don't love life, you can't enjoy an oyster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-clark/obviously-if-you-don-t-love-life-you-can-t-enjoy-an-oyster/) [Eleanor Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-clark/) > [It's not the method, it's the mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-gilbert/it-s-not-the-method-it-s-the-mindset/) [Andy Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-gilbert/) > [It's a hard thing to describe. It's just this sense that you got something to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lehrer/it-s-a-hard-thing-to-describe-it-s-just-this-sense-that-you-got/) [Jonah Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lehrer/) > [Too much familiarity breeds contempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/too-much-familiarity-breeds-contempt/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [We never really perceive what color is physically!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-albers/we-never-really-perceive-what-color-is-physically/) [Josef Albers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-albers/) > [Politics is not an issue whether you like or dislike , but every citizen must involve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khem-veasna/politics-is-not-an-issue-whether-you-like-or-dislike-but-every/) [Khem Veasna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khem-veasna/) > [God reveals Himself through surprises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/god-reveals-himself-through-surprises/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) [Browse all 114,561 Inspirational quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I could write shorter sermons but when I get started I'm too lazy to stop", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Abraham Lincoln" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-could-write-shorter-sermons-but-when-i-get-started-i-m-too-lazy-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Inspirational" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-could-write-shorter-sermons-but-when-i-get-started-i-m-too-lazy-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f76/abraham-lincoln-88_inspirational_i-could-write-shorter-sermons-but-when-i_959902.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f76/abraham-lincoln-88_inspirational_i-could-write-shorter-sermons-but-when-i_959902.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f76/abraham-lincoln-88_inspirational_i-could-write-shorter-sermons-but-when-i_959902.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I could write shorter sermons but when I get started I'm too lazy to stop” — Abraham Lincoln", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Abraham Lincoln", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I could write shorter sermons but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-could-write-shorter-sermons-but-when-i-get-started-i-m-too-lazy-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-could-write-shorter-sermons-but-when-i-get-started-i-m-too-lazy-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```