| Ordinary humanity … a portrait of Abraham Lincoln by George Peter Alexander. |
My hero:
Abraham Lincoln by Akhil Sharma
The 2015 Folio prizewinner on how the US president embraced honesty and happiness
Saturday 28 March 2015
Saturday 28 March 2015
A
braham Lincoln’s father ridiculed and abused him, and the young Lincoln was surrounded by physical cruelty, especially towards animals – part of life on the American frontier. Yet when, as an adolescent, he was asked to kill a snake, he replied: “It enjoys living just the same as we do.” The response shows a commitment to behaving in the way that Lincoln had decided was right, no matter what other people thought.