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I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.
Abraham Lincoln wrote the above quote as part of a long letter to Albert Hodges on April 4, 1864. He was explaining his decision-making on Emancipation for publication in Hodges’s Kentucky newspaper, the Frankfort Commonwealth. For those who know history, Kentucky was one of four “border states” that, although slave states, remained in the Union during the Civil War. Hodges had been critical of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation; Lincoln’s letter explained in great detail the series of decisions he made in his efforts to save the Union, including those specifically related to the slavery question. It remains one of the most articulate defenses of executive action ever written.
Oddly, while Lincoln claims to have been controlled by events, his letter suggests he made a series of well-considered decisions influenced by, but also influencing, those events.
It reminds me of a quote by another famous public figure, Kurt Vonnegut, from his science fiction novel, The Sirens of Titan:
I was a victim of a series of accidents, as are we all.
The book delves into issues of free will, that is, the ability to control ones own life and ones own decision making. As the book unfolds, it becomes less and less clear how much we control our own lives. Conversely, much of what seems out of our control results from the decisions we indeed make.
Lincoln advocated for a government that would “elevate the condition of men” and clear paths to “afford all…a fair chance, in the race of life.” In other words, the opportunity to control our own path forward, to make ones own decisions.
Complete control of our lives is an illusion in the sense that what others do often influences what we can do, or will choose to do. Events beyond our control happen, and yet we generally can choose how we react to those events. Lincoln reacted to the war and slavery in ways that others on both ends of the political spectrum disagreed, but he made those decisions with the end result in mind – saving America from tearing itself apart. While he may not have completely controlled all events, he did strongly influence them. That is a lesson all of us should learn.
David J. Kent is a science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.
Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!
Lightness Traveling said:
Finding that balance between what we can control as individuals, and what we have to accept is one of life’s greatest challenges. Doing so as a leader in such a circumstance is also a great responsibility as well as an almost unimaginable burden. In that regard, I think Lincoln stands as an icon of why we should always want for, and strive to choose intelligent and thoughtful leaders.
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davidjkentwriter said:
I agree.
BTW, I’ll be offline for a while after today. Doing one of your disappearing acts to places intriguing where I’m not allowed access. Try to keep the nutcases from doing anything stupid while I’m on the target, will ya?
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Lightness Traveling said:
Best wishes to you, and a safe and enjoyable journey. I’ll see what I can do about the “nutcases.”
(-_^)
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davidjkentwriter said:
Much appreciated.
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Liz Husebye Hartmann said:
The effort is mine. The outcome is not.
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estebang said:
Brings to mind the so-called Serenity Prayer.
Much used in addiction recovery programs.
But a history of sentiment dating back to written Greek and Indian culture.
The basic message is don’t worry about stuff you can’t control.
But how is one to divine that?
One of those aphorisms like “Everything in moderation” that is not that useful in practice but hangs around in some part of your mind.
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davidjkentwriter said:
I guess what we can control is what we try to control and succeed at. The one thing we can control is how we react to events. I have a vague memory of some Buddhist aphorism saying that getting angry hurts yourself and usually does nothing to change the situation. Or maybe it was on Facebook. Either way, I haven’t been very good at the whole inner zen thing.
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hbsuefred said:
My personal philosophy was restated here several times and in different ways by and your enlightened and intelligent followers. Re Lincoln specifically and presidents in general, one has to wonder which among them would be able to express such reasoned thinking to explain how decisions of national import were reached. Clearly the current one could or would not!
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davidjkentwriter said:
Lincoln was an exceptional leader. There aren’t many like him (I would include perhaps Martin Luther King, Barack Obama in the category).
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