Lincoln and Power
Early in his first term, Lincoln was constantly pressured by key advisers to capitulate to the South’s demands to avoid a bloody conflict. On one occasion, he was advised by a Virginian to surrender all forts and property in the Southern states. Lincoln immediately rejected the option by telling Aesop’s parable of the lion and the woodman’s daughter:
A lion was very much in love with a woodman’s daughter. The fair maid referred him to her father and the lion applied for the girl. The father replied: “Your teeth are too long.” So the lion went to a dentist and had them extracted. Returning, he asked for his bride. “No,” said the woodman, “your claws are too long.” Going back to the dentist, he had them drawn. Then he returned to claim his bride, and the woodman, seeing that he was unarmed, beat out his brains.
“May it not be so with me,” concluded the President, “If I give up all that is asked?”
— Lincoln on Leadership by Donald T. Phillips
There seems to be two lessons here:
- Never give up everything for something that you deeply desire. In the end, you could have nothing and end off worse.
- Never give up your strengths, or you will become helpless.
