Most of the world would be surprised to know how few of our thoughts are really original with ourselves. What we write and say is, for the most part, a kind of mosaic interweaving of ideas and recollections gathered together out of other people’s talk or books. The combination and rearrangement of them is about all we can call our own. When a man does really evolve an original thought out of his own mind, it is the exception, rather than the rule. It is usually the fruit, either of patient study, or of fresh and vivid experience.
Abraham Lincoln Portrait by Matthew Brady
c. 1860
Carte de visite of Lincoln. Carte de visite was a type of small photograph. Each photograph was the size of a calling card, and such photographs were commonly traded amongst friends and visitors in the 1860s.Signed by Lincoln. Image taken by Brady. Brady is known for being one of the earliest photographers to record the CIvil War.
