Lincoln saw things as symbols with moral meanings. On seeing a tree covered with a luxuriant vine, he said, “The vine is beautiful, but, like certain habits of men, it decorates the ruin it makes.”
Speaking of the difference in meaning between character and reputation, he said, “Character is like a tree and reputation is like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it, but the real thing is the tree.”
Some influential people were urging him to declare the slaves free before conditions made such a thing practical. He pressed that point home to them with a question.
“How many legs,” he asked, “will a sheep have if you call the sheep’s tail a leg?”
They promptly answered five.
“You are wrong,” he replied, “for calling a sheep’s tail a leg won’t make it so.”
To importunate and impetuous persons Lincoln always had the right reply. Once a rather proud mother came before him with a rather haughty-looking son.
“Mr. President,” she said very conclusively, “you must give a Colonel’s commission to my son.”
He waited for her to explain why he must do so.