--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are not enemies, but friends. We must…" description: "\"“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affections. The mystic chords..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af8/stephen-mansfield-34089_love_we-are-not-enemies-but-friends-we-must-n_860954.jpg" --- # We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies… ![“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affections. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearth-stone all over this broad land, will yet swell the…” quote by Stephen Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af8/stephen-mansfield-34089_love_we-are-not-enemies-but-friends-we-must-n_860954.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af8/stephen-mansfield-34089_love_we-are-not-enemies-but-friends-we-must-n_860954.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af8/stephen-mansfield-34089_love_we-are-not-enemies-but-friends-we-must-n_860954.jpg) > ““We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affections. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearth-stone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”” [Stephen Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mansfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Shared history and common humanity can heal division despite conflict. **In simple terms:** Unity heals through shared memory. Key Takeaway Seek common ground in conflict. Themes unity memory humanity Mood hopeful reflective Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - political debates - family disputes - community building Key Concepts history empathy reconciliation Questions to Reflect On - What shared values can bridge your current divide? - How can you nurture empathy in polarized settings? A Different Perspective Idealistic view may overlook deep grievances. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affections/) [Affections Mystic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affections-mystic-853003/) [Better Angels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-angels/) [Better Angels Of Our Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-angels-of-our-nature/) [Enemies Friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemies-friends/) [Enemies Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemies-passion-853002/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Union Touched](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/union-touched-853004/) ## Related quotes > [We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-are-not-enemies-but-friends-we-must-not-be-enemies-though-passion/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/all-over-this-broad-land-will-yet-swell-the-chorus-of-the-union-when/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/the-mystic-chords-of-memory-stretching-from-every-battle-field-and/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [People are complicated creatures. On the one hand, capable of great acts of charity, and on the other, capable of the most underhanded forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-alice/people-are-complicated-creatures-on-the-one-hand-capable-of-great/) [Mary Alice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-alice/) > [To a crisis of the spirit, we need an answer of the spirit. To find that answer, we need only look within ourselves. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-nixon/to-a-crisis-of-the-spirit-we-need-an-answer-of-the-spirit-to-find/) [Richard M. Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-nixon/) > [Pelosi abuses her power in ways that once were unthinkable. Her speakership has been the antithesis of Lincoln's entreaty to 'the better angels of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-devine/pelosi-abuses-her-power-in-ways-that-once-were-unthinkable-her/) [Miranda Devine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-devine/) > [“Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker Sapiens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-ferriss/man-s-search-for-meaning-by-viktor-e-frankl-the-rational-optimist-by/) [Timothy Ferriss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-ferriss/) > [Politics has high and low moments. Sometimes it brings out the better angels of our nature; sometimes baser instincts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-leach/politics-has-high-and-low-moments-sometimes-it-brings-out-the-better/) [Jim Leach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-leach/) > [By celebrating death, even of someone as evil as bin Laden, we let our worst impulses trump what Abraham Lincoln called the better angels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zimmerman/by-celebrating-death-even-of-someone-as-evil-as-bin-laden-we-let-our/) [Jonathan Zimmerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zimmerman/) > [“Only a visionary leadership that can motivate "the better angels of our nature," as Lincoln said, and activate possibilities for a freer, more efficient,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/only-a-visionary-leadership-that-can-motivate-the-better-angels-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [If we listen to the better angels of our nature, there are creative and good solutions to serious problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-damon/if-we-listen-to-the-better-angels-of-our-nature-there-are-creative/) [Matt Damon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-damon/) > [Anyone else reading The Better Angels of Our Nature? Butter, this book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cho/anyone-else-reading-the-better-angels-of-our-nature-butter-this-book/) [John Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cho/) > [In our resolve to build a better world... we seek to summon what Abraham Lincoln called the better angels of our nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-earl-jones/in-our-resolve-to-build-a-better-world-we-seek-to-summon-what-abraham/) [James Earl Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-earl-jones/) > [I think it's likely that the civilizing effect of literature has done most of the work, and still continues to do. Look at Steven…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-think-it-s-likely-that-the-civilizing-effect-of-literature-has-done/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“Moral elevation" describes the feeling of being uplifted by an act of uncommon goodness. Elevation brings out what Abraham Lincoln called "the better angels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-sandberg/moral-elevation-describes-the-feeling-of-being-uplifted-by-an-act-of/) [Sheryl Sandberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-sandberg/) ## More by Stephen Mansfield > [Honorable men don’t settle for lives of regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mansfield/honorable-men-don-t-settle-for-lives-of-regret/) [Stephen Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mansfield/) > [There is a schizophrenic nature in modern politics. A leader is expected to have a religious faith but he is not supposed to let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mansfield/there-is-a-schizophrenic-nature-in-modern-politics-a-leader-is/) [Stephen Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mansfield/) > [“My central belief, though, is that men are made to protect the territory assigned to them and to assure that everything within that territory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mansfield/my-central-belief-though-is-that-men-are-made-to-protect-the/) [Stephen Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mansfield/) > [Your destiny is fulfilled as you invest in the destinies of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mansfield/your-destiny-is-fulfilled-as-you-invest-in-the-destinies-of-others/) [Stephen Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mansfield/) > [All it takes for a contagious manly culture to form is for one genuine man to live out genuine manhood. It creates a model,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mansfield/all-it-takes-for-a-contagious-manly-culture-to-form-is-for-one/) [Stephen Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mansfield/) > [Small things done consistently, though undramatic, yield more than the large and sporadic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mansfield/small-things-done-consistently-though-undramatic-yield-more-than-the/) [Stephen Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mansfield/) > [“The theme of the next sentence is the heart of his message: “The Almighty has His own purposes.” This is what Lincoln believed now,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mansfield/the-theme-of-the-next-sentence-is-the-heart-of-his-message-the/) [Stephen Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mansfield/) > [I want to identify what a genuine man does—the virtues, the habits, the disciplines, the duties, the actions of true manhood—and then call men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mansfield/i-want-to-identify-what-a-genuine-man-does-the-virtues-the-habits-the/) [Stephen Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mansfield/) > [God is God, and I'm not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mansfield/god-is-god-and-i-m-not/) [Stephen Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mansfield/) > [“Life has meaning only in the struggle, Victory or defeat is in the hand of God, So let us celebrate the struggle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mansfield/life-has-meaning-only-in-the-struggle-victory-or-defeat-is-in-the/) [Stephen Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mansfield/) > [“Here is the lesson: Great men and women of God are not exempt from hurt and offense. Instead, enduring the wounds of fellow Christians…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mansfield/here-is-the-lesson-great-men-and-women-of-god-are-not-exempt-from/) [Stephen Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mansfield/) > [“Being a man is a privilege, not an entitlement. It is a surrender of our priority. It is a laying down of our lives,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mansfield/being-a-man-is-a-privilege-not-an-entitlement-it-is-a-surrender-of/) [Stephen Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mansfield/) > [Beer, well respected and rightly consumed, can be a gift of God. It is one of his mysteries, which it was his delight to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mansfield/beer-well-respected-and-rightly-consumed-can-be-a-gift-of-god-it-is/) [Stephen Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mansfield/) [Explore all 14 Stephen Mansfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mansfield/) ## More Affections quotes > [A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-difference-of-taste-in-jokes-is-a-great-strain-on-the-affections/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A woman's life is a history of the affections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/a-woman-s-life-is-a-history-of-the-affections/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [A woman's whole life is a history of the affections. - Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-woman-s-whole-life-is-a-history-of-the-affections-washington-irving/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A woman's whole life is a history of the affections. The heart is her world: it is there her ambition strives for empire; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/a-woman-s-whole-life-is-a-history-of-the-affections-the-heart-is-her/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [“Necessity is very often the mother of romance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/necessity-is-very-often-the-mother-of-romance/) [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) > [When the affections so kindly break loose, Joy, is another name for Religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/when-the-affections-so-kindly-break-loose-joy-is-another-name-for/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The principle we call self-love never seeks anything external for the sake of the thing, but only as a means of happiness or good:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-butler/the-principle-we-call-self-love-never-seeks-anything-external-for-the/) [Joseph Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-butler/) > [That is the great mistake about the affections. It is not the rise and fall of empires, the birth and death of kings, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-barr/that-is-the-great-mistake-about-the-affections-it-is-not-the-rise-and/) [Amelia Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-barr/) > [Virginians were no more angels or philanthropists than people to the north or to the south of them. They were moved by their affections,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sergeant-wise/virginians-were-no-more-angels-or-philanthropists-than-people-to-the/) [John Sergeant Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sergeant-wise/) > [I sometimes wish I had been educated a Catholic, in order to unite the poetry of religion with its higher principles. Are they necessarily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenimore-cooper/i-sometimes-wish-i-had-been-educated-a-catholic-in-order-to-unite-the/) [James Fenimore Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenimore-cooper/) > [“Minimizing the importance of transformed feelings makes Christian conversion less supernatural and less radical. It is humanly manageable to make decisions of the will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/minimizing-the-importance-of-transformed-feelings-makes-christian/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [“This was how it was with travel: one city gives you gifts, another robs you. One gives you the heart’s affections, the other destroys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/this-was-how-it-was-with-travel-one-city-gives-you-gifts-another-robs/) [Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/) > [Humid seal of soft affections, Tend'rest pledge of future bliss, Dearest tie of young connections, Love's first snow-drop, virgin kiss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-burns/humid-seal-of-soft-affections-tend-rest-pledge-of-future-bliss/) [Robert Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-burns/) > [“The affections are more reticent than the passions, and their expression more subtle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/the-affections-are-more-reticent-than-the-passions-and-their/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [Son, brother, father, lover, friend. There is room in the heart for all the affections, as there is room in heaven for all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/son-brother-father-lover-friend-there-is-room-in-the-heart-for-all/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) [Browse all 110 Affections quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affections/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affections. 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