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VOLUME III, Number 5
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11 February 1963
The Spirit of Lincoln:
Our Gift to the World
They have examined him, acclaimed him, explored the deepest recesses of<
his personality - generations of historians, biographers, playwrights, nov
elists and poets* Their books about him would fill a library* And yet he
remains essentially a puzzling figure* Abe tincoln - America’s gift to the
world*
Few men stand taller than Lincoln on the stage of history; yet it's im
possible to imagine him - gangling, stooped, with frock coat and stovepipe
hat - in the togaed and crowned company of the groat* The very notion would
have made him grin*
Dut in simple grandeur he looms second to none -"it is the grandeur cap
tured by Daniel Chester'French in his massive statue of Lincoln’s brooding,
seated figure* It is the compassion for all humanity that glowed in the Eman
cipation Proclamation just 100 years ago and in the deathless words of the
Gettysburg Address*
As we mark the 154th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth it has never been clear
er, in a world torn by hates and tyrannies, that his spirit represents the
best hopes and aspirations of men of good will everywhere* It lights their
path today as they work for peace, mutual understanding and an end to want*
This is the Lincoln of heroic stature* Dut there, is another - the homely
rustic, plain of speech, ruminant, almost indolent by nature; the man who
at 22 could describe himself as "a piece of floating driftwood#'* Through
out his entire life, in fact, he desparaged his own abilities with that
rueful humor so intrinsic to him* Dut Lincoln was one of those rare Homo
sapiens - a truly humble man.
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St. Valentine’s Day - 14 February 1963: Hearts and flowers are going out -
at this time of year all over the world*' This is not a child’s day but one
of all mankind. A man is never too old to send a Valentine to his mother or
wife or sweetheart. It may cost more for the postage than it did for the
box of candy, but it is the thought that goes along that counts and is felt
on the receiving end of the postal trip.