Stephen Mansfield Quote

Nonetheless, Lincoln’s story is, in part, that of a man who beat back the spirits that came for him in the night. He might well have been crushed by his woes, by the death of the first son and then the second, by the madness of his wife, or the hatred of his foes—even by the devils in his thoughts. He did not yield, though, not ultimately. As important, he mined the valleys of depression for what riches he could find. He emerged to see life differently from other men, to understand and feel as though he were looking in from outside of human existence. For that is what depression is—a way of seeing and feeling life as though from another, tormented world.