Lincoln’s Promise To Mother
While a member of Congress, Abraham Lincoln was once criticized
by a friend for his seeming rudeness in declining to test the
rare wines provided by their host.
The friend said to him: “There is certainly no danger of
a man of your years and habits becoming addicted to the use of
wine.”
“I mean no disrespect, John,” answered Lincoln, “but
I promised my precious mother only a few days before she died
that I would never use anything intoxicating as a beverage, and
I consider that promise as binding today as it was the day I gave
it.”
“But,” the friend continued, “there is a great
difference between a child surrounded by a rough class of drinkers
and a man in a home of refinement.”
“A promise is a promise forever,” answered Lincoln,
“and when made to a mother, it is doubly binding.”