When I do good, I feel good.
When I do bad, I feel bad.
That's my religion.
- Abraham Lincoln
About morals: I know only that
what is moral is what you feel good after
and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.
- Ernest Hemingway
Needless to say, the Lincoln/Hemingway test for whether an action is moral only applies to people who are fundamentally moral.
If I had eight hours to chop down a tree,
I'd spend six hours sharpening my ax.
- Abraham Lincoln
If you look for the bad in people
expecting to find it, you surely will.
- Abraham Lincoln
When I am getting ready to reason with a man,
I spend one-third of my time thinking about myself
and what I am going to say
and two-thirds about him and what he is going to say.
- Abraham Lincoln
Further Lincoln quotes: Making Friends of Enemies
Power Tests Integrity
Planting Flowers
The Freedom of Others