We live in an age of passionate intensity, of talking [but not thinking] heads; we listen to our news outlets not for information but for ammunition. Ours is a world of bumper-sticker political discourse.
The age Lincoln lived in was even more passionate - witness 620,000 Civil War casualties in 49 months. Yet Lincoln downplayed the importance of passion. Read the following with care and see if you find reason to disagree with him: "Passion has helped us, but can do so no more. It will in future be our enemy. Reason, cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason must furnish all the material for our future support and defense."
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