Lincoln’s Wit/Wisdom 34

Once Mary Todd's relatives learned of her engagement to Lincoln they pressured the couple to call the wedding off. The reason, clearly, was Lincoln’s lack of family respectability - he had an illiterate father and a mother of dubious origins. So he asked Mary to release him, which she did. She understood, but was obviously hurt. Although they eventually did marry later, at this time Lincoln was arguably more depressed than at any time in his life. 'I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth.'