Thousands of appeals for pardon came to American president Lincoln from soldiers involved in military discipline. Each appeal was as a rule supported by letters from influential people. One day he received an appeal from a soldier without any supporting letters.
"What!" exclaimed the president, "has this man no friends?"
"No, sir, not one," said the adjutant.
"Then," said Lincoln, "I will be his friend."
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One day after listening to a would-be client's statement, Lincoln, then a lawyer, said, "Well, you have a pretty good case in technical law, but a pretty bad one in equity and justice. You'll have to get some other fellow to win this case for you. I couldn't do it. All the time while standing talking to that jury I'd be thinking, 'Lincoln, you're a liar,' and I believe I should forget myself and say it out loud."
美國總統林肯收到士兵犯軍規求特赦的信件，數以千計。那些特赦要求，總是附有些大人物說情的信件。有一天，林肯收到的一封請求特赦信，卻不附任何關說書函。
林肯說：「怎麼，這個人沒有朋友嗎？」
副官回答：「總統，沒有，一個都沒有。」
林肯說：「那麼，我做他的朋友吧。」
* * *
林肯做律師的時候，有一天，聽罷一個有意請他訴訟者所述案情，說道：「這宗官司，論法律條文，你形勢頗為有利，但是，論公平正義，卻頗為有虧。你要贏得官司，須另覓高明，我不能勝任，否則，站着向陪審團陳詞時，我會想：『林肯，你謊話連篇。』我甚至會不能自已，把所想說出來。」