Abraham Lincoln

“Far too Badly Hurt to Laugh”

Posted on April 24, 2016 Updated on April 21, 2020

Lincoln’s Republicans lost 22 seats in Congress in the midterm elections of 1862，Asked how he felt about the Republican losses, Lincoln said: “Somewhat like that boy in Kentucky, who stubbed his toe while running to see his sweetheart. The boy said he was too big to cry, and far too badly hurt to laugh.”

By Washington correspondence, 6 November, New York Times, 7 November 1862.