I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep on doing so until the end. If I care to listen to every criticism, let alone act on them, then this shop may as well be closed for all other businesses. I have learned to do my best, and if the end result is good then I do not care for any criticism, but if the end result is not good, then even the praise of ten angels would not make the difference. If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas of any man I ever met.
Moral principle is a looser bond than pecuniary interest.
My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent. People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be. The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a caused we believe to be just.