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About this quote

What does it mean?
Mercy yields richer outcomes than strict justice.
In plain terms
Compassion is more rewarding than harshness.
What can you take from it?
Show mercy in judgments.

Where it applies

  • legal sentencing
  • personal conflicts

Putting it to work

  • choose compassionate responses
  • balance justice with empathy

Questions to consider

  • When is mercy appropriate?
  • How to balance mercy and justice?

Another view

Too much mercy can undermine accountability.

More from Abraham Lincoln

  1. I want it said of me by those who knew me best that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.

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  2. If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?

    Permalink to quote #115
  3. I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.

    Permalink to quote #112

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