Abraham Lincoln

Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if God wills that it continues.....until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid another drawn with the sword.....so still it must be said that the judments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. Wil malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see to see the right, let us finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and for his orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and will all nations.

--Second Inagural Address, March 4, 1865

Taken from If My People, by Thomas Nelson Publishing.