You may burn my body to ashes, and scatter them to the winds of heaven; you may drag my soul down to the regions of darkness and despair to be tormented forever; but you will never get me to support a measure which I believe to be wrong, although by doing so I may accomplish that which I believe to be right.

The Wit & Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln: A Treasury of Quotations, Anecdotes, and Observations (ed. Gramercy, 1999)