The New Year Quote by Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln is smuggling a hard democratic promise into the plainest possible sentence: that history is shaped less by pedigree than by grit. “Always bear in mind” isn’t decorative; it’s the voice of a political leader trying to turn private psychology into public capacity. He frames success as an act of governance over the self, not a gift dispensed by institutions. The key word is “resolution” - not talent, not luck, not even virtue. Resolution implies a decision renewed daily, a discipline that survives failure, fatigue, and the slow grind of circumstance.

The subtext carries the stamp of Lincoln’s own biography: a man who rose from frontier poverty into the most punishing office in the country, and who had to keep choosing steadiness while the nation disintegrated. In the mid-19th century, American “self-made” mythology was taking shape, but Lincoln’s version is less swagger than sobriety. He’s not saying obstacles are imaginary; he’s saying the only lever you fully control is your willingness to continue. That’s both bracing and politically useful: it places agency where it can’t be taken away by elites, rivals, or fate.

Rhetorically, the line is engineered for endurance. No metaphor, no flourish, just a hierarchy of importance that flattens excuses. “More important than any other” is hyperbole with a purpose: to crowd out competing narratives - envy, resentment, even dependence - and to make persistence feel like a civic duty as much as a personal strategy.