--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was 272…" description: "\"“Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was 272 words and he delivered it under three minutes. He labored on it for days. The \"featured speaker,\" Edward Everett,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/david-herbert-donald-27496_gettysburg_lincoln-s-gettysburg-address-was-272-wor_390729.jpg" --- # Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was 272 words and he… ![“Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was 272 words and he delivered it under three minutes. He labored on it for days. The "featured speaker," Edward Everett, rambled on for two hours. Most people don't even remember his name, never mind what he said.” quote by David Herbert Donald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/david-herbert-donald-27496_gettysburg_lincoln-s-gettysburg-address-was-272-wor_390729.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/david-herbert-donald-27496_gettysburg_lincoln-s-gettysburg-address-was-272-wor_390729.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/david-herbert-donald-27496_gettysburg_lincoln-s-gettysburg-address-was-272-wor_390729.jpg) > ““Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was 272 words and he delivered it under three minutes. He labored on it for days. The "featured speaker," Edward Everett, rambled on for two hours. Most people don't even remember his name, never mind what he said.”” [David Herbert Donald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-herbert-donald/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The brevity and impact of Lincoln's speech contrast sharply with the lengthy, less memorable remarks of his contemporary, highlighting the power of concise, purposeful communication. **In simple terms:** Short, powerful speeches outshine long, rambling ones. Key Takeaway Value concise, impactful messaging. Themes communication history leadership public speaking memory Mood reflective educational Type historical inspirational When to use this quote - political speeches - educational lectures - media presentations Key Concepts rhetoric historical significance speechcraft Questions to Reflect On - How does brevity affect audience retention? - When is a longer discourse preferable? A Different Perspective Long speeches can still be effective if well-structured. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gettysburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gettysburg/) [Gettysburg address](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gettysburg-address/) ## Related quotes > [ \[T\]he only thing wrong with Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was that it was the South, not the North, that was fighting for a government… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/t-he-only-thing-wrong-with-abraham-lincoln-s-gettysburg-address-was/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [One hundred and fifty years after Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, equality for many Americans remains elusive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-quigley/one-hundred-and-fifty-years-after-lincoln-s-gettysburg-address/) [Mike Quigley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-quigley/) > [“Abraham Lincoln, perhaps the most loved president of the United States, was also the most criticized president. Probably no politician in history had worse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/abraham-lincoln-perhaps-the-most-loved-president-of-the-united-states/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [Jesus' simple poetic words are delivered casually and gently. Jesus prefers to explain a difficult concept over time, never talking down to His followers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roma-downey/jesus-simple-poetic-words-are-delivered-casually-and-gently-jesus/) [Roma Downey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roma-downey/) > [The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/the-world-will-little-note-nor-long-remember-what-we-say-here-but-it-2/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [If you look at photos of the Gettysburg Address there's a guy off to the right who I think is Keith Richards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/if-you-look-at-photos-of-the-gettysburg-address-there-s-a-guy-off-to/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [The Lord's Prayer is 66 words, the Gettysburg Address is 286 words, there are 1.322 words in the Declaration of Independence, but government regulations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-lord-s-prayer-is-66-words-the-gettysburg-address-is-286-words/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [As you deal with thumb-crossings, or fingerings for the F-sharp-minor scale, or chromatic scales in double thirds, it is hard to accept that these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-denk/as-you-deal-with-thumb-crossings-or-fingerings-for-the-f-sharp-minor/) [Jeremy Denk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-denk/) > [ The people who visit the \[Lincoln\] memorial always look like an advertisement for democracy, so bizarrely, suspiciously diverse that one time I actually saw… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-vowell/the-people-who-visit-the-lincoln-memorial-always-look-like-an/) [Sarah Vowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-vowell/) > [The omission of an expected conjunction is called an asyndeton. Caesar is supposed to have said about Gaul: I came, I saw, I conquered.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-quinn/the-omission-of-an-expected-conjunction-is-called-an-asyndeton-caesar/) Arthur Quinn > [People of a television culture need “plain language” both aurally and visually, and will even go so far as to require it in some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/people-of-a-television-culture-need-plain-language-both-aurally-and/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [it wasn't by accident that the Gettysburg address was so short.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-wasn-t-by-accident-that-the-gettysburg-address-was-so-short/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/i-should-be-glad-if-i-could-flatter-myself-that-i-came-as-near-the/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/but-in-a-larger-sense-we-cannot-dedicate-we-cannot-consecrate-we/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/now-we-are-engaged-in-a-great-civil-war-testing-whether-that-nation/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) ## More by David Herbert Donald > [Maybe I will write a memoir, perhaps I'll do some essays, or maybe I will write a mystery story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-herbert-donald/maybe-i-will-write-a-memoir-perhaps-i-ll-do-some-essays-or-maybe-i/) [David Herbert Donald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-herbert-donald/) > [In Lincoln's day a President's religion was a very private affair. There were no public prayer meetings, no attempts to woo the Religious Right.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-herbert-donald/in-lincoln-s-day-a-president-s-religion-was-a-very-private-affair/) [David Herbert Donald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-herbert-donald/) > [But I have tried to go over it very carefully, not merely what the evidence is, but with psychoanalysts and psychologists, and I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-herbert-donald/but-i-have-tried-to-go-over-it-very-carefully-not-merely-what-the/) [David Herbert Donald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-herbert-donald/) > [And, finally, Lincoln was not a good impromptu speaker; he was at his best when he could read from a carefully prepared manuscript. Though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-herbert-donald/and-finally-lincoln-was-not-a-good-impromptu-speaker-he-was-at-his/) [David Herbert Donald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-herbert-donald/) > [Well, it seems to me Lincoln, I suppose, is kind of a model of a particular sort of presidency, a presidency that first of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-herbert-donald/well-it-seems-to-me-lincoln-i-suppose-is-kind-of-a-model-of-a/) [David Herbert Donald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-herbert-donald/) > [“Sumner’s mind keeping the peace abroad was connected with freeing the slaves at home. 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Often, as a result, he debated with himself, and he would draw up a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-herbert-donald/lincoln-had-no-such-person-that-he-could-talk-with-often-as-a-result/) [David Herbert Donald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-herbert-donald/) > [If you think about it, the historian's task is like that of the detective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-herbert-donald/if-you-think-about-it-the-historian-s-task-is-like-that-of-the/) [David Herbert Donald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-herbert-donald/) > [The big biography of Lincoln necessarily had to do so much with his political career, his ambitions, his accomplishments in public, with less time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-herbert-donald/the-big-biography-of-lincoln-necessarily-had-to-do-so-much-with-his/) [David Herbert Donald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-herbert-donald/) [Explore all 20 David Herbert Donald quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-herbert-donald/) ## More Gettysburg quotes > [The crisis of our diminishing water resources is just as severe (if less obviously immediate) as any wartime crisis we have ever faced. 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You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-dessner/and-my-parents-live-down-in-west-virginia-and-i-have-to-drive-through/) [Aaron Dessner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-dessner/) [Browse all 84 Gettysburg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gettysburg/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was 272 words and he delivered it under three minutes. He labored on it for days. The \"featured speaker,\" Edward Everett, rambled on for two hours. 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