I'm not a Lincoln expert, rather a biographer who has had the pleasure of reading much of what has been written about him from his lifetime to this year of his bicentennial. Some advice: Don't try that unless you have at least five years available.

With all due respect to re-enactors, I consider the Civil War too tragic a subject to make a game of.

A recommendation to scholars: Write only one book about Lincoln; give it your best shot, and then move on.

Words about Lincoln fill a small but ever-growing library.

Lincoln is distinguished from every other president, with the exception of Jefferson, in that we can be certain that he wrote every word to which his name is attached.

The challenge of a president himself struggling to find the conjunction between the right words and honest expression, a use of language that respects intellect, truth, and sincerity, has largely been abandoned.

I choose a block of marble and chop off whatever I don't need.

When one paints an ideal, one does not need to limit one's imagination.

Art is messy, art is chaos - so you need a system.

When you look at art made by other people, you see what you need to see in it.

You need to have a can-do attitude. There is always a way.

Beauty doesn't need ornaments. Softness can't bear the weight of ornaments.