Destroy Your Enemies

The title of this post is obviously a bit misleading from what most people would think "destroying your enemies" would mean, but when I hear the phrase I like to think of the Abraham Lincoln quote:

"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"

The quickest way to like somebody is to get to know them. Everybody has positive things about them, and everybody has something to offer. If we focused on the positive instead of the negative of people, then we would have no enemies. If you don't like somebody, get to know them better.

Often we make a hasty judgment about a person, and then it can be difficult to change our first opinion of them. At least this is the case for me. Sometimes it seems like within 30 seconds of meeting somebody (sometimes even before I even hear them speak!) I have made a judgment about a person, and it may be tough for them to change my opinion of them. This is not their fault, it is mine. This is not a shortcoming of theirs, it is a shortcoming for me.

I am reminded of a story I read about Mother Teresa. In her personal writings, she talked about a fellow sister with whom she didn't personally like all that much, and with whom she did not feel much of a connection. However, when asked about their relationship, that sister said that they were very good friends. Such was the depth of Mother Teresa's love for those around us.

Even if we do not have any "enemies," everybody has those people in their lives with whom they don't really get along with well, who they don't like all that much, and whose personalities do not click well. Now, with how many of them would the other person think you are close friends? For me, the answer is zero.

Destroying your enemies and making them friends does not mean everyone that you "hate"... it means all of those people in our life who we have a hard time making a connection with or loving. Those are the people we should strive the most to love.

The Gettysburg Address

It is one of the most famous speeches of all-time... it was surprising to the crowd how short it was, but its brevity only enhances the message.

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"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

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Hopefully our nation and its inhabitants are still dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Both those born and unborn.

Quotes by Abraham Lincoln

One of my favorite people ever is Abraham Lincoln (and not just because I share a birthday with him... although that helps!) He was a man of great integrity and honesty, and it is because of this that he is known as the greatest United States President in the history of this great nation.

He was also pretty smart too, and had some great quotes along the way. Here are some of his best ones, as selected by me:

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"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other."

"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"

"Every one desires to live long, but no one would be old."

"How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."

"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

"My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure."

"Whatever you are, be a good one."

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

"The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just."

"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."

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Do you have any other good Abraham Lincoln quotes?

Other Abe Lincoln Links
- The Gettysburg Address
- Recommended Biography of Abraham Lincoln