In the sixth and final section of Douglas Wilson's Honor's Voice, Lincoln's pre-president life is reviewed. Most notably, Wilson makes reference to a phrase Lincoln once used in a congressional speech: "the power to hurt" (Wilson 303). In Shakespeare's 94th sonnet, he essentially says that those who don't hurt, despite having to power to hurt, have a sense of superiority. According to Wilson, Lincoln possessed a quality similar to the one Shakespeare writes about: "The power to hurt...was curiously offset in his nature by something like its obverse, an inability to ignore the helpless" (Wilson 305). Once, as Lincoln's wife recalled, while Lincoln was crossing a prairie, he noticed a pig stuck in mud. Deliberating whether or not to help the pig, he passed on by, but, because of his conscience, he rushed back and saved the pig in distress. Stories like this, which defined Lincoln as a person, were not at all uncommon in his life.
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Although the story of Lincoln and the pig shows that Lincoln was a man of integrity, Lincoln was not the kind of person who completely devoted his life to service and helping others. In fact, he had more important, more self-oriented goals to accomplish. Wilson writes, "Rising in the world, which was apparently Lincoln's ambition from the start, seems to have meant a quest primarily for recognition or distinction" (Wilson 293). While this may seem selfish, it is only natural to strive for recognition and distinction. Everyone wants to have their recognizable place in the world. What is unique in Lincoln's case, though, is the fact that his yearning to achieve distinction led to a monumental feat in the service of helping others. In a nutshell, Wilson describes this thought, "As his wife observed, the world found out about Lincoln's hard-won resolution, for his rock-solid ability to keep his resolves once they were made would undergrid his performance as president. And that would make all the difference" (Wilson 323). The individual longing for distinction and upward mobility is neccesary, as it was in America during the time of Lincoln, to make advancements in society. There is, however, a danger in certain ambitious individuals. Luckily, Lincoln was not one of them.
5 comments:
What I don't understand is why he didn't help the pig in the first place. Most people would help the pig right away if they saw it was stuck in the mud. This story doesn't really prove how strong Lincolns morals were.
I understand the significance of Lincoln turning around to help the pig but like Julian I don't understand why he walked by and then returned.It would seem to me that he would immediately stop and help the pig with no hesitation.I understand how Lincoln's desire for recognition helped him to achieve all that he did. But I also believe that there are many people who have made huge impacts on society without needing to get credit for it.
I found it interesting that you brought out that lincoln was a helping person on the outside, but like the vast majority of humans, he wanted to gain recognition and accomplish his goals. After reading this, my respect for this great president does not drop in the slightest because every human has "faults" (even though being like the rest of us isn't really a fault). Personally, I think that his ambitions inside do not matter as long as he did the things for our country while he was president.
I wonder if that's one of the reasons that Lincoln wanted to become so recognized by people, so he could have a greater ability to help others. It would seem like it is much easier to fight for a cause once you're well known. For example, Jane Goodall was working with primates long before people heard of her.
Emily, that's a good point. Perhaps people misunderstood some of his goals as personal when in fact they were purely so that he could have a greater influence, and therefore greater ability to aid others.
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