In 1858 when Lincoln lost the Illinois Senatorial election to Stephen Douglas I think Lincoln was as bitterly disappointed as any candidate losing any election, more so perhaps than most given the fact that he [according to the convoluted calculations of some observers] won by 4,000 votes. Yet, when asked how he felt about that result, this is what he said: "I felt like the boy who stubbed his toe rather badly; I'm too big to cry and too badly hurt to laugh."
There's steely self-discipline under that wry observation; if I lived in that time and that man came up for election again, I think I'd give him my vote!
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