Probably no other man in American history was ever more denounced and hated and
double-crossed than Lincoln. Yet Lincoln, according to Herndon's classic biography,
"never judged men by his like or dislike for them. If any given act was to be performed,
he could understand that his enemy could do it just as well as anyone. If a man had
maligned him or been guilty of personal ill-treatment, and was the fittest man for the
place, Lincoln would give him that place, just as soon as he would give it to a friend. ... I
do not think he ever removed a man because he was his enemy or because he disliked
him."
Lincoln was denounced and insulted by some of the very men he had appointed to
positions of high power-men like McClellan, Seward, Stanton, and Chase. Yet Lincoln
believed, according to Herndon, his law partner, that "No man was to be eulogised for
what he did; or censured for what he did or did not do," because "all of us are the
children of conditions, of circumstances, of environment, of education, of acquired habits
and of heredity moulding men as they are and will for ever be."
Perhaps Lincoln was right. If you and I had inherited the same physical, mental, and
emotional characteristics that our enemies have inherited, and if life had done to us
what it has done to them, we would act exactly as they do. We couldn't possibly do
anything else. As Clarence Darrow used to say: "To know all is to understand all, and
this leaves no room for judgment and condemnation." So instead of hating our enemies,
let's pity them and thank God that life has not made us what they are. Instead of
heaping condemnation and revenge upon our enemies, let's give them our
understanding, our sympathy, our help, our forgiveness, and our prayers."
I was brought up in a family which read the Scriptures or repeated a verse from the
Bible each night and then knelt down and said "family prayers". I can still hear my father,
in a lonely Missouri farmhouse, repeating those words of Jesus- words that will continue
to be repeated as long as man cherishes his ideals: "Love your enemies, bless them
that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use
you, and persecute you."
My father tried to live those words of Jesus; and they gave him an inner peace that the
captains and the kings of earth have often sought for in vain.
To cultivate a mental attitude that will bring you peace and happiness, remember that
Rule 2 is:
Let's never try to get even with our enemies, because if we do we will hurt ourselves far
more than we hurt them. Let's do as General Eisenhower does: let's never waste a
minute thinking about people we don't like.
Chapter 14 - If You Do This, You Will Never Worry About Ingratitude
I recently met a business man in Texas who was burned up with indignation. I was
warned that he would tell me about it within fifteen minutes after I met him. He did. The
incident he was angry about had occurred eleven months previously, but he was still
burned up about it. He couldn't speak of anything else. He had given his thirty-four
employees ten thousand dollars in Christmas bonuses-approximately three hundred
dollars each-and no one had thanked him. "I am sorry," he complained bitterly, "that I
ever gave them a penny!"