Lincoln the Lawyer

Number Eight

From Lincoln’s Autobiographies and other Sources

[Selections from a speech to students of law, July, 1850]

    By studying hard, practicing public speaking, and making a lot of good friends, Abraham finally took the Illinois Bar Exam and passed it.  He became a lawyer in Springfield.  His father did not like "lawyers," and he always kept in mind that the reason was that many were dishonest. 

    "I am not an accomplished lawyer. I find quite as much material for a lecture in those points wherein I have failed, as in those wherein I have been moderately successful. The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every other calling, is diligence. Leave nothing for to-morrow which can be done to-day. Never let your correspondence fall behind. Whatever piece of business you have in hand, before stopping, do all the labor pertaining to it which can then be done."  Hard work will make a lawyer successful."  A. Lincoln

    "The matter of fees is important, far beyond the mere question of bread and butter involved. Properly attended to, fuller justice is done to both lawyer and client. An exorbitant fee should never be claimed."  A. Lincoln

    ". . . and if in your own judgment you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer. Choose some other occupation, rather than one in the choosing of which you do, in advance, consent to be a knave."  A. Lincoln