Hal Holbrook: Abraham Lincoln

Quotes 

• Abraham Lincoln : When news comes from Sherman, I'm confident it will be good.

  Sec. Edwin Stanton : And your confidence is based on what?

  Abraham Lincoln : A dream. It's a dream I had last night. I seemed to be aboard some singular, indescribable vessel and to be approaching very rapidly a distant, indefinite shore. I'll allow it's odd, but I had this identical dream just preceding news of Sumter, and Bull Run, and Antietam, Gettysburg, Stone River, and just before the taking of Vicksburg. And last night I dreamt it again. I'm certain that awesome news is forthcoming.

  General U.S. Grant : Mr. President, Stone River, Bull Run, and Antietam could hardly be called good news, sir.

  Sec. Edwin Stanton : I'm sure we'll agree omens make a charming fancy, but in the War Department, Lincoln, we like to rely for our messages on the military telegraph!

• Abraham Lincoln : [Addressing a celebrating crowd on the steps of the White House]  Now I propose closing up this interview by the band playing some particular music. I've always felt that 'Dixie' was one of the best tunes I ever heard!

• Abraham Lincoln : [In a dream sequence, Lincoln follows the sound of weeping to a darkened White House room with a flower-covered coffin in its center. Lincoln approaches a soldier standing guard]  Who is dead in the White House?

  Soldier : The President. He was killed by an assassin's bullet.

  Abraham Lincoln : [Relating to the dream to Mary and Mr. Nicolay]  And there came a burst of grief from the crowd, which woke me from my dream. I slept no more that night. Although it was only a dream, somehow this thing has taken possession of me. Like Banquo's Ghost, it will not down.

• Abraham Lincoln : [Planning the future with Mary]  I would like to see Canaan. Really see it. Always wanted to visit in the Holy Land. Stand where the Prophet stood. Walk in Jerusalem where our Saviour walked. I think more than anything, I would like to do that.