ABE LINCOLN ~ "Mostly, he educated himself by borrowing books and newspapers There are many stories about Lincoln's efforts to find enough books to satisfy him in that backwoods country. Those he liked he read again and again, losing himself in the adventures of Robinson Crusoe or the magical tales of The Arabian Nights. He was thrilled by a biography of George Washington, with its stirring account of the Revolutionary War. And he came to love the rhyme and rhythm of poetry, reciting passages from Shakespeare or the Scottish poet Robert Burns at the drop of a hat. He would carry a book out to the field with him, so he could read at the end of each plow furrow, while the horse was getting its breath. When noon came, he would sit under a tree and read while he ate. 'I never saw Abe after he was twelve that he didn't have a book in his hand or in his pocket,' Dennis Hanks remembered. 'It didn't seem natural to see a feller read like that.'"
Inscription in young Abe Lincoln's homemade arithmetic book:
"Abraham Lincoln
his hand and pen
he will be good but
god knows When."
~ LINCOLN A PHOTOBIOGRAPHY, Russell Freedman, Clarion Books, 1987.
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