"If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong."

In defending his decision to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, Lincoln points to the following provision of the Constitution:

the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it.

It's not easy to refute him here, as it was in fact the case that a genuine rebellion was going on. Lincoln goes on to say that civil courts are "utterly incompetent" when it comes to handling the large number of cases as the circumstances would produce.

After the war, Lincoln says, everything will be fine again, and there's no reason to believe otherwise. Habeas will be restored, just as it was after President Andrew Jackson revoked it years earlier. Although history backs him up on this claim, I don't find it a particularly reassuring argument on his behalf: "Trust me, everything will be fine later. You'll get your rights back -- I swear!"

Second Inaugural Address

Much of Lincoln's writings contain many quote worthy passages, but the following was my favorite from today's readings:

...Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully.

I think this observation has many applications. In any struggle of ideas, people on each side of the argument believe themselves to be correct -- often times 100% correct -- and see the other side as having some obviously evil and ulterior motive. And I'd venture to guess that in most cases, neither side is 100% correct, nor is either necessarily evil. Lincoln acknowledges as much here, and eloquently expresses so.