Each [side in this war] looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged.
ATTRIBUTION:
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), U.S. president. Second inaugural address, March 4, 1865. Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, vol. 8, p. 332, Rutgers University Press (1953, 1990).
