“Humor is the instinct for taking pain playfully.” - Max Eastman

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst 

April 25 

Draining the President’s attention and energy was a virtually endless stream of office seekers. “Too many pegs and not enough holes to put them in,” he observed wryly. When Lincoln got back to Washington from the Gettysburg cemetery dedication he contracted a mild form of smallpox. Where were the office seekers, he quipped? Now he had something he could give everybody!