"If this is coffee..."

In honor of our 16th president and his February 12 birthday, a quotation. Not from the Gettysburg Address or the Second Inaugural. In fact, no one is sure exactly where it came from, or even completely confident that he said it. Though it has always been attributed to him, it is not an especially well sourced remark.

But still, it is funny and practical and about real life. A break from the ponderous union-preserving tasks with which he was shouldered. A witty aside the man might have tossed out into the world without expecting it to go very far.

"If this is coffee," he said, "please bring me some tea. But if this is tea, please bring me some coffee."

So much for uniting the North and the South, those who sought to preserve the Union and those who clamored to divide it.

With one sentence this man could bring together  — with humor — those who love coffee and those who love tea.

Now that's saying something...


The Lincoln Cottage in northwest D.C., the president's summer home, where he undoubtedly had a cup of coffee ... or maybe it was tea.