Act IV, scene 1
(Abraham Lincoln and a friend at the White House.)FRIEND: Lincoln, you are really great, you are really good. God gave you a unique heart. What our great thinker Emerson said of you is so true. Your “heart is as great as the world. But there is no room in it to hold a wrong.”
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Friend, I have done nothing to make any human being remember that I have lived.
FRIEND: That is your modesty speaking. Outwardly you are very tall. Inwardly, also, you are very tall.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: I am nothing, and I am prepared to remain nothing all my life. But I want our country to be something great, really great, so that the world will appreciate and admire it. Alas, how can the world appreciate our country while there is still slavery? As long as there is slavery in the nation, there can be no oneness-discovery. When I was young, I once saw a beautiful Negro girl for sale at a slave auction. I took an oath on that very day to put an end to slavery. Since then I have been praying to God every day to grant me the opportunity and capacity to put an end to this most deplorable state of affairs.
FRIEND: I tell you, Abraham, God will definitely listen to your prayer. Just wait and see. If God does not fulfil such a good and pure desire as yours, then what kind of prayers will He fulfil?
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Friend, you are kind. Pray for me; pray for the fulfilment of my heart’s desire.
FRIEND: I shall. And I am sure God will grant your prayer.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Do you know that there is someone here who failed in business in 1831, who was defeated for the Legislature in 1832, who failed in business again in 1833, who suffered a nervous breakdown in 1836, who was defeated for speaker in 1838, who was defeated for Elector in 1840, who was defeated for Congress in 1843, who was defeated for Congress in 1848, who was defeated for Senate in 1855, who was defeated for Vice-President in 1856, who was defeated for Senate in 1858?
FRIEND: And who was elected President of the United States in 1860! My dear friend, what you have been is of no consequence. What you have become is of paramount importance.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: I suppose you are right. Thank you for sharing with me your encouraging and inspiring discovery.
