Learning and personal development
The way for a young man to rise, is to improve himself every way he can, never suspecting that any body wishes to hinder him.
— Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), Letter to William H Herndon (10 July 1848)

Learning and personal development

What it means

Lincoln advises a young man to keep improving himself and not to imagine others are blocking him. Self-improvement is within our own control.

About the author

Abraham Lincoln — President of the United States from 1861 to 1865.

Source and verification

Source
Letter to William H Herndon (10 July 1848)
Reference
Abraham Lincoln on Wikiquote
Checked
Wording and source taken from the sourced section of the author’s Wikiquote page, which cites the work given here (accessed 2026-10-11).
Copyright
Public domain: the author died in 1865.

The explanation above is ToDoMatriX’s own reading of the quote, not the author’s words.

More on learning and personal development

“Find time still to be learning somewhat good, and give up being desultory.”

Marcus Aurelius

“For the things we have to learn before we can do, we learn by doing.”

Aristotle

“Shall I tell you the secret of the true scholar? It is this: Every man I meet is my master at some point, and in that, I learn of him.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson